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 Mad, bad, and lewd: why the comic books I knew were lame Mar 05, 2010
As a boomer born in 1959, I missed the events described in Hajdu's fun history of comic books, but I didn't miss the aftermath. All of the comic books when I was a kid in the late 60s and on were lame and boring. Archie and Jughead? Except for Mad, which was crazy, antic, nerdy, fun that poked havoc at everything that poked its head over the horizon. And now I understand why because of Hajdu's excellent history.
Just days after a good copy of the 1938 Action Comics No. 1 that introduced Superman sold for $1 million, it is evident that these early comics still exert a powerful pull from so many years ago. Ahh, the power of the comic--the weird, the violent, the criminal, the lurid, the lewd--that was what all the fuss was about, wasn't it? Hajdu does a good job setting comics in context of time and culture. This wasn't just about bad, it was about "bad for youth"--like jazz music, then rock music, then movies, then television, then . . . . .
The debate really is about how much our influences--what we read, watch, listen to--shape our minds, our morals, and most specifically our behavior. Legislatures and opinion leaders, and a few prominent psychologists certainly thought that comic books (yes, even Archie--short skirts, tight sweaters) contributed to juvenile delinquency, and passed laws to regulate or eliminate the "worst" books.
And I must confess, some of the descriptions and pictures in Ten-Cent are unsavory. But darn if I don't wish I could read more! Its the lure of the weird if you will. Its what attracted kids to the books--and the artists to the form. One of the best parts of Ten-Cent is learning about the people who drew the comics. Their backgrounds, skills and interests were varied, but they become real people and real artists in Hajdu's account, working in a medium under fire, but creating some things that were worth admiring.
Several years ago I read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a fictionalized account of the early days of the comic industry with Chabon's unique touches of fantasy. If you haven't read it, you should after you have read Ten-Cent. It isn't historical fiction by any means, but it captures the manic passion and possibilities of the time.
 This book is so boring. Feb 28, 2010
I just couldn't finish it. If you are interested just look up wiki or something. This book is overlong. Name drops comics i've never heard of. I just didn't like it. It was just too wordy and boring and i'm not bored easily. A book that's very forgettable and easy to give a miss.
 New readers will learn much about the art form in this dense work Nov 24, 2009
It's never been easy to publish comic books for all ages in America. While other countries long ago incorporated the medium into their reading habits, comics and graphic novels have remained, here in the States, the domain of the young--at least in the popular mindset. And while many have pointed out that comics have grown up--and that there's a wealth of material available for all age ranges--it's more accurate to not that comics grew up a long, long time ago . . . and they paid a great price for it. David Hajdu takes a look at that dark time in The Ten-Cent Plague, his insightful examination of the effect of McCarthyism on comic books.
Prior to the investigation, comics were expanding at an amazing pace. Sales were high, and a wide variety of books were sold, ranging from superheroes to romance to horror to true crime. It's those latter two that seemed to push the envelope a little too much for some people's tastes. With J. Edgar Hoover and other law-enforcement officials openly discussing their fear of a growing amount of juvenile delinquency, parents all over the country were fearful. And ready to listen to some (perhaps well-intentioned) fear-mongering from Dr. Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist who headed up the Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. Wertham considered comics a source of evil, having a detrimental effect on the impressionable minds of the young, and it didn't take much for him to convince congress, teachers, and parents of the same thing.
Those of us who grew up reading comics heard a lot about Wertham--he was the reason every issue we bought contained a seal stating it was "Approved by the Comics Code Authority"--but the majority of new graphic novel readers might be unaware of his work. His famous phrase "Seduction of the Innocent" became a catchphrase among comic readers, and it sums up the heart of his argument. As Hajdu fairly presents, Wertham wasn't the oppressive censor he was often made out to be. In fact, he was somewhat progressive in his views. He truly believed that comic books were causing irreparable damage to the psyches of American youths and he took it upon himself to lead the charge against them.
The result was a seriously weakened industry that couldn't tell all the stories it wanted to tell. Creativity was limited, and sales were affected as a result. It's taken decades for comics publishers to make the headway needed in the States to change all that--most notably through underground comix beginning in the '60s and after a "British Invasion" in the '80s ushered in a new direction (and attracted an older audience).
Hajdu has a natural storytelling ability that keeps all of this subject matter from ever getting too dry. He wisely avoids heavy-handedness in favor of a more objective approach, smoothly presenting opposing sides with empathy.
Graphic novels continue to draw a wider and more diverse audience day by day. The throngs of new readers now drawn to the medium will learn much about the art form in this dense work. That understanding may help them see how graphic novels even now aren't that far removed from that seemingly long-ago time. And many more will wonder where the art form would be now if it hadn't been stifled just when it was beginning to branch out.
-- John Hogan
A Witch Hunt by Any Other Name Aug 21, 2009
Stop me if you've heard this weepy song heard at least once a week in many comic book stores nationwide: "I used to have X title, but my Mom accidentally (or intentionally) pitched the books out." Those of us that like comics all have all sung that song. For me it was the first printing of the Star Wars movie adaptation, a few Sergeant Rocks, an equal number of Howling Commandos and a representative sample of Batman, Spiderman, Avengers, Ghostrider and Superman.
No, I wouldn't solve any financial problems with my collection and I don't really blame Mom, because like most ten-year old boys I didn't really understand what I had beyond something fun to read until I lost it. I do blame a certain stepfather who cut up my Star Wars books for the pictures to paste up on a board that was intended to encourage me to work out more as discipline for stupid petty crap no one remembers why it was important. What made comic books so hated among adults even in the 1970s that it was OK to appropriate things we bought with our own allowance money and perpetrate nothing less than a property crime?
I had to grow up and get back into comics as an adult to learn the name I sought: Frederick Wertham PhD. Pity, the man is long dead, but the hate and anger is very black. It would almost be worth committing grievous sins to get assigned to his room in Hell. Well, at least David Hajdu captured the silly and frightening times of the 1950s where we hunted Reds (almost) and comic books into extinction in his book The 10-cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America.
I became progressively angrier with long dead people with each passing page as my mind made connections to other examples of American fear mongering that are more recent. Witch hunting didn't just die out when Sen. McCarthy embarrassed himself on TV; turn on the news and see if there are parallels. The principles are the same: lie about the enemy, exaggerate the threat and play to parents who aren't monitoring their own kids. That I got angry says all that needs to be said about the technique in the book: excellent.
I spent a whole night in one sitting reading this book on my Kindle racing through first person accounts of the poor kids coerced by people willing to believe anything written by a man with a PhD. Hajdu makes his case very clear that Wertham's book The Seduction of the Innocent was based on almost no actual science with double blinds or other responsible study. Simply put, the "trusted expert" blamed comic books for bad kids, when all kids good or bad read comic books invalidating the thesis in any responsible experimentation regime.
But, it was the 1950s and who needs responsible science that may rock the boat in a society still at war with everybody? Parents didn't even try to understand that societies change or they die and that comic books popular with their children were just something different, not bad. I kept my eyes open for the inevitable hypocrisy of black and white doctrinaire platforms whether it was comic books or a strict interpretation of Islam. People still collected and hid their comics from parents while Dad hid his Playboys.
Hajdu's best scenes came out of the interviews with the kids who burned their books, because someone twisted their arms, and the comic book creators ruined by the televised hearings. However, as fascinating as the book is retelling what happened and possibly why, the book didn't make as good a case for comic books being good as is now the accepted opinion. While some of the reasons for comics being positive things are included in explanations of why comics became popular in the first place, I felt an epilogue chapter that explains with footnotes how American thought on comics has changed now that the fear mongers changed gears to go after in order: Rock, TV, The Passion of Christ, Rap, Video Games, Muslims and now healthcare reform was in order.
I wanted to hear from the experts who'd been voices in the wilderness during hearings that use such phrases like Catharsis, Emotional Preparation for Adulthood, Interim Step to Full Literacy and Mythic Archetypes. These words are said about all art forms that show works that don't always conform to the silly and safe notion that we must protect our kids from everything. Well, the one omission aside The 10-cent Plague is one must read book.
Now, where did I leave my time machine for going back to rescue my comics?
[...].
The Birth and Worth of Comic Books Jul 19, 2009
Mr. Hajdu's book is another great example which dispels the conservative, halcyon notion that our culture was so much better before the psychedelic, anti-war, free-love 1960s. The birth and explosion of comic books during the 1920s through 1950s was the first assault by youngsters against the adult world's puritanical codes of conduct. As seen through present-day eyes, the political and religious attempts to link comic consumption and juvenile delinquency is laughable. Over-zealous Anthony Comstock-like acolytes resort to mocking the First Amendment by going on witch-hunts and public book burnings; reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Mr. Hajdu gives fair treatment to the outrageous, reckless excesses by comic book publishers, many who were only in it for the money, as well as the young artists trying to develop a new medium. The book is a wonderful historical snapshot and written in a highly entertaining fashion. This work is not only for people who have an interest in comics.
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