![]() Wertham’s opening salvo against comics came in an article published in Ladies Home Journal called, “What Parents Don’t Know about Comic Books.” He went on to publish his notorious book Seduction of the Innocent, which became a national sensation, wreaking havoc on the comics industry for years to come. However, it was during his work at the Lafargue Clinic that Wertham began to make questionable connections between juvenile delinquency and the popularity of comics. Board of Education, helping eliminate the racial segregation of children in public schools. ![]() Further, he was the author of important studies that concluded racial segregation was detrimental to children’s mental health, and he was instrumental in Brown v. Wertham was progressive on many social issues, including helping establishing the Lafargue Clinic in Harlem, a low-cost non-discriminatory psychiatric center. He was an early advocate for poor and disenfranchised mentally ill individuals receiving fair criminal trials and for allowing their background and mental health serve in their defense. Wertham was a pioneering neurobiologist, and he worked extensively to fight stigmas associated with mental illness in children. He is now known as one of the most iconic censors in modern history. Fredric Werthamįredric Wertham was a child psychologist who did groundbreaking work with underprivileged youth, but Wertham sullied his legacy in a quest for fame that manifested in the 1954 anti-comics screed Seduction of the Innocent. The public criticism of comics continued. The ACMP failed due to a lack of uniform participation and standards for reviewing comics. The ACMP Code banned depictions sympathetic criminals, scenes of sadistic torture, the humorous or glamorous depiction of divorce, foul language, or ridicule or attack on religious or racial groups. ![]() The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) formed in 1948 to help curb this public criticism. ![]() “Badly drawn, badly written and badly printed-a strain on young eyes and young nervous systems… Their crude blacks and reds spoil the child’s natural sense of color their hypodermic injection of sex and murder make the child impatient with better, though quieter, stories.” A Failed Attempt It was reprinted in multiple newspapers throughout the United States, and included quotes such as: Sterling North’s anti-comics editorial, “A National Disgrace,” appeared in The Chicago Daily News in 1940. Although comics were associated primarily with juvenile readers, a full 25% of the printed materials going to military PXs in World War II were comics. In the 1940s, comic book burnings were happening in the US, even as GIs were returning home from seeing the same activities in Germany. This kind of public criticism spread in popular magazines and town meetings, and even led to public burnings of comic books! Youth groups rallied to completely rid some towns of comics, buying up every comic in their local areas to be burned. Moral crusaders asserted that comics corrupted youth, hurt their ability to read and appreciate art, and even made them delinquents. From the 1930s to the modern day, the comics medium has been stigmatized as low-value speech. Born BannedĬensorship arising from moral panic is a constant presence in the history of comics. Please contact CBLDF about bringing this presentation to your group. Graphic Novels: Suggestions for Librariansīelow is a web-friendly version of the CBLDF presentation on the history of comics censorship, which has been delivered to audiences of scholars, lawyers, advocates and readers in the United States.Working With Libraries! A Handbook For Comics Creators.Know Your Rights: Student Rights Fact Sheet.Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read!.Adding Graphic Novels to Your Library or Classroom Collection.Kirkpatrick, NY State Court of Appeals (1973) Obscenity Case Files: Joseph Burstyn, Inc.Des Moines Independent Community School District Obscenity Case Files: United States v.Pacifica Foundation (George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words) Obscenity Case Files: People of New York v.
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