Normally, Chapter By Chapter is me reading a fictional book one chapter at a time to study each part of the story. In this special review series however we are looking at Seduction Of The Innocent, a non-fiction book as the writer, Dr. Fredric Wertham, tries to make the case that comics were a bad thing for kids in the 1950s. The book had a huge impact on the comic industry and fans. We will examine what he is saying not exclusively by today’s standards, but the time in which the book was made to see where Wertham was right, and where he was horribly wrong.
The Scientific Promotion of Comic Books
“But when you notice the intent,
You are dismayed by what is meant.”
– Schiller
Of course we would reach a chapter where Dr. Wertham would go after the defenders of comics but frankly I expected it to be a bit later on. I wonder what else he has to say, although the title for the next chapter would imply he’s going after the comic creators next. That should be “fun”. But now the so-called “defenders” of comics. I was going into this thinking that Wertham may misstate something a “defender” said, in part because I live in a time where this happens a lot. Take someone whose opinion you disagree with, especially on a social/political belief, make statements out of context that doesn’t showcase their actual thoughts, and make them look as bad as possible. That’s what we call “debating” nowadays because heaven forbid you think of someone of the opposite opinion as anything other than the most horrible person who ever lived. Even official news networks and blogs are guilty of this.
Having read through this chapter I don’t have to worry about that. Most of what Wertham said is easily countered by a bit of logic, and what he has a point on is still hampered by his solution. This is not a man who knows as much about comics as he thinks. We’ve also chronicled his numerous biases so it’s not like he’s gone into this as honestly as he claims or at least thinks. And that is ultimately the problem with this chapter: complaints about bias from a biased perspective.
Read what he says at the link above, and then read what I have to say about what he had to say about what they had to say.
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Chapter By Chapter Special: Seduction Of The Innocent ch. 9 part 2
Yesterday we took a look at Wertham’s opening comments against the defenders of comics, which he lumps all together, or at least lumps a group he claims are paid to lie about comics by the comics industry. And yet he is so unaware of what he doesn’t know about comics that even when he is right he finds a way to not be taken seriously by anyone who knows comics or at least knows that not every medium is for kids. But he isn’t sounding an alarm that “hey parents, not every comic produced has your kids in mind”, but “hey parents, the comic industry is totally trying to corrupt your kids for profit or because they’re that depraved” and it’s hard to give him credit beyond not wanting to be as overboard as he is.
It’s a zero sum game as he’s one of those people who insists anything not involving live-action performers or something he grew up with is immediately for children despite every other medium at the time as well as today not being kid-exclusive. Puppets can be done for adults, cartoons were made for both kids and adults separately and together, and the same for radio dramas, TV, movies, music, and books. It’s like every new medium gets shoved into the kids zone until something else comes along or enough people grow up with it that they can see it’s not just for kids. Wertham doesn’t really research comics and it’s been rather obvious.
Read the chapter first and do your own research before we continue where we left off yesterday.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on August 8, 2017 in Comic Spotlight, Seduction Of The Innocent and tagged book review, Chapter By Chapter, commentary, Dr. Fredric Wertham, Seduction Of The Innocent.
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