It's pretty interesting. You have to agree with the sentiment. The shock of discovering that some "funny books" contained graphic decapitations, hangings and defenestrations must have been galvanizing to the average parent.
On the other hand I find it suspect how swiftly The State swoops in to set itself up as the moral high ground. If I were a complete cynic I'd say this looks an awful lot like a basic distraction move.
It's all cyclical, this stuff. It's comics, it's television, it's wrestling, it's video games, it's TikTok, it's whatever - point to something external for a societal ill, instead of working to offer the supports a society needs to mitigate hardship.
The United States Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency convened in New York in 1954… exactly the same time that the McCarthy Hearings were going on in Washington.
I love the characters depicted in the sinister smudge on the cover as supposed exemplars of comics' depravity. Decapitated body, disembodied head, criminal attempting to shoot @-signs and the Star of David with a pistol but missing, ladies in both bikinis and hoodies, Peter Lorre, a leering ogre, and David Niven or Vincent Price in a smoking jacket. good stuff
These "comics" sure sound like trouble! Good thing a talented illustrator helped get their dangerous nature across.
It's pretty interesting. You have to agree with the sentiment. The shock of discovering that some "funny books" contained graphic decapitations, hangings and defenestrations must have been galvanizing to the average parent.
On the other hand I find it suspect how swiftly The State swoops in to set itself up as the moral high ground. If I were a complete cynic I'd say this looks an awful lot like a basic distraction move.
It's all cyclical, this stuff. It's comics, it's television, it's wrestling, it's video games, it's TikTok, it's whatever - point to something external for a societal ill, instead of working to offer the supports a society needs to mitigate hardship.
I think they're running out of things to blame and are starting to blame just like, everyone.
The United States Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency convened in New York in 1954… exactly the same time that the McCarthy Hearings were going on in Washington.
“The government is here to help”.
My weird theory is the US gov wanted to sink comics as a way to go after the mob’s pocketbooks. They laundered money through comics.
I love the characters depicted in the sinister smudge on the cover as supposed exemplars of comics' depravity. Decapitated body, disembodied head, criminal attempting to shoot @-signs and the Star of David with a pistol but missing, ladies in both bikinis and hoodies, Peter Lorre, a leering ogre, and David Niven or Vincent Price in a smoking jacket. good stuff
Thanks for sharing this! Crazy stuff. I think my favorite part is the idea that comics “foster prejudice.” Yup, nothing else to blame for that!