SOTIcollector Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) The March 29, 1948 issue of Time featured a small story "Puddles of Blood," about that Wertham guy who was saying comics were dangerous. Edited December 6, 2018 by SOTIcollector Had posted somebody else's photos, but then found my own so replaced the photos with my own. buttock and pmpknface 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 In response to "Puddles of Blood", a reader took exception to Wertham's reasoning. Time, April 19, 1948. Larryw7, buttock and pmpknface 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 And then came the big one. Saturday Review of Literature, May 29, 1948. A lengthy feature article written by Wertham, promoted on the front cover, laid out the doctor's case against comics. This article received even more widespread exposure with the August issue of Reader's Digest, which reprinted a condensed version of the article. pmpknface, Larryw7 and buttock 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 (edited) The weekly newspaper insert "The Week" featured a Wertham cover story in its issue dated October 10, 1948. In "What Your Children Think of You," Wertham discusses the "Hookey Club" (which figures prominently in SOTI), and makes a brief mention of comic books. Edited December 6, 2018 by SOTIcollector Missed a close parenthesis. pmpknface and buttock 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 6, 2018 Share Posted December 6, 2018 Also in October, 1948, we had Neurotica #3. Gershon Legman's "The Psychopathology of Comic Books" would later resurface as part of his "Love & Death." szucchini, pmpknface, Larryw7 and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 My final post of October, 1948 is Woman's Day. "What About The Comic Books?" szucchini, buttock and Larryw7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 The excerpt from Saturday Review of Literature must have been well received, because in November, 1948 Reader's Digest published "Common Sense About Comics", which they condensed from Parents magazine. buttock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfcityduck Posted December 7, 2018 Share Posted December 7, 2018 Do you have the Saturday Reviews between May 1948 and the end of September 1948 that had responses to Wertham? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 19 hours ago, sfcityduck said: Do you have the Saturday Reviews between May 1948 and the end of September 1948 that had responses to Wertham? As a matter of fact, I do. I have bound volumes that contain of all the 1948 issues of SRL. The issues of interest start with March 20 (John Mason Brown debating Al Capp) through Otober 16. I took photos tonight, so I'll get pics posted soon. Thanks for asking! I had neglected to add them to the list earlier. Edited December 8, 2018 by SOTIcollector Fixed spelling error. szucchini 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 1948 was the year the anti-comics rhetoric really heated up. Nowhere is that more evident than in the pages of the Saturday Review of Literature. We'll start with March 20. There are a couple comics-related bits here. There's a review of Coulton Waugh's "The Comics". Plus, in the regular feature "Seeing Things," there's "The Case Against The Comics", by John Mason Brown, and "The Case For The Comics," a rebuttal by Al Capp Edited December 22, 2018 by SOTIcollector Fixed spelling error. szucchini and buttock 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 The April 10, 1948 issue didn't have anything directly related to comic books, but this letter to the editor would apply to many of the comic books of 1948 and frankly, to about 99.9% of the comic books since then. Larryw7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 May 1, 1948: A reader pokes fun at Al Capp's "The Case For The Comics." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Earlier in the thread I posted the May 29, 1948 SRL with Dr. Wertham's "The Comics... Very Funy." So right now, let's skip to June 19, 1948. Four readers' responses to Wertham's article appeared in the letters to the editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Next we have July 17, 1948, with responses to Wertham's May 29 article.. Larryw7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 In the July 24, 1948 issue of Saturday Review of Literature, you'll find numerous readers' responses to Wertham's May 29 article. The most eloquent of them was written by fourteen year old David Pace Wigransky. Larryw7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 In the July 31 issue, Dr. Wertham corrects his previous assertion about Classics Illustrated #44 (Mysteries of Paris). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 The August 21 issue contains responses to David Pace Wigransky's article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Here's the September 25, 1948 issue of SRL. One reader doubts the authenticity of David Pace Wigransky's letter, and is presented with evidence by the editors of SRL that Wigransky did indeed author the letter that was attributed to him. Another reader points to a newspaper story of torture committed by children, and concludes that this proves the need to ban comic books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 And my last entry for 1948, at least until I find something more, is this. Saturday Review of Literature, October 16, 1948. A reader urges the woman who was pushing for a comic book ban to use her brain. szucchini and buttock 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIcollector Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Commenary magazine, January, 1949. Comic books are just lessons in fascism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
