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Show us your “one and done” book that encapsulates a genre
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Started by GreatCaesarsGhost,

160 posts in this topic

MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, Dr. Love said:

And believe it or not this would be the romance for me.  And I've owned maybe 80% of all the romance books ever printed.  I love it so much I paid Kenny $500 to restore this $2 book, because it doesn't exist in the condition it deserves.

When I look at this cover I am transported to a different realm.  My breathing slows down, and I feel a deep and quiet joy.  Two hearts beat as one.  All is well.

image.thumb.png.7110f597c4d514dde6bd75bb6851f44e.png

Let's get that heart racing! This would be romance for me...

 

romantichearts(2nd)9.jpg

Edited by MrBedrock
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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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My one-and-done GGA book?  That’s easy.  Art by one of the two best GGA artists of the Golden Age (the other being Frazetta).  Iconic cover that helped define the genre even before the phrase “GGA“ was ever uttered.  And for me, of course, there is the added bonus that it happens to be a prominent Seduction of the Innocent book.

D62293A4-EC32-4411-9C46-FFCBFD361D59.thumb.jpeg.a37fd35194c8eaf3e6776b845ead8428.jpeg

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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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If I had to pick a one-and-done a SOTI book, then hands down it would be this baby.  Sure, Wertham complained about superhero comics and romance comics and pretty much every genre there is.  But the mere existence of the crime comic book genre really got his panties in a bunch.  As a crime book, this has everything you have come to expect:  drug dealing, drug use, extreme violence galore.  It comes from a publisher that published sleazy paperbacks and trashy detective magazines.  Wertham criticized this book far more than any other single book.  Scroll down for examples...
49DC4979-0778-477E-8747-B35FBE78B17E.thumb.jpeg.570479f9011abac11d501f55a64ecba3.jpeg

D5A7126E-21D9-440A-9A0B-7803D77B6F13.thumb.jpeg.acd1dd5a29445ed17f3740acc37086bb.jpeg
97D193D1-7574-4CED-BFF6-32D3F63379AC.thumb.jpeg.ee096b96cb8b55eafe5913892017d1ec.jpeg

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A945916D-3688-4BAF-BF8F-F1445A9BB523.thumb.jpeg.43641b8f72d6f85fe4343b0813a82491.jpeg92865992-EF6D-4ECD-9BEF-1A54599293A8.thumb.jpeg.ee451ad99fe8cf16e302b08af9aae760.jpeg

C8437725-E645-499F-80BC-2E57795B8F33.thumb.jpeg.3510b7be1ec2a67760188d48e9dde591.jpeg

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91A565B2-8FD0-4B3F-B639-3980232EF98A.thumb.jpeg.cbb76b9862f3eef233c8de778f8cc580.jpeg

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In his first nationally-published anti-comics article, Wertham made sure that the "injury to the eye" panel from True Crime #2 was prominently placed.

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When the Charles-Fourth Gallery had an exhibit called "School for Sadism", it was promoted with pictures of children looking at a blown-up copy of that now-famous injury-to-the-eye panel.  I can't find the image at the moment, so here's an article about the exhibit.  

I found it amusing that Wertham would claim that comics are harmful to kids, but then this exhibit to which he contributed showed children staring at the panel he found so objectionable.  If the panel is so harmful, good doctor, why are YOU exposing kids to it?

D3A4A5CE-04F2-4DEE-9263-AACB45175349.thumb.jpeg.6cf934f7dc531ec46ebbb49253bc1020.jpeg

I'm pretty sure True Crime #2 was also pictured in the 1953 NY State Legislature document, but I don't have my photos of it handy.

In November, 1953, Ladies' Home Journal published an excerpt from SOTI, which was scheduled for publication the following year.  For this magazine, Wertham selected that injury-to-the-eye panel as well as a photo of a magazine rack that features, you guessed it, True Crime #2 (as well as issue 3 and lots of other great books).

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When the Ladies' Home Journal article was reprinted as a standalone, the injury-to-the-eye panel received front page coverage.

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And when SOTI came out, there was a mention of True Crime on pages 81 and 82, and two illustrations were used as well (the "erasing faces" panel and the injury-to-the-eye panel).

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Edited by SOTIcollector
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SOTIcollector

SOTIcollector

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1 hour ago, SOTIcollector said:

When the Charles-Fourth Gallery had an exhibit called "School for Sadism", it was promoted with pictures of children looking at a blown-up copy of that now-famous injury-to-the-eye panel.  I can't find the image at the moment, so here's an article about the exhibit.  

I found it amusing that Wertham would claim that comics are harmful to kids, but then this exhibit to which he contributed showed children staring at the panel he found so objectionable.  If the panel is so harmful, good doctor, why are YOU exposing kids to it?

D3A4A5CE-04F2-4DEE-9263-AACB45175349.thumb.jpeg.6cf934f7dc531ec46ebbb49253bc1020.jpeg

 

Oops.  I have to correct myself.  I went back to my photos from Wertham's files at the Library of Congress, certain I was going to find the photo of kids looking at the needle-to-the-eye image in the promo for the Charles-Fourth Gallery.

Instead, I found that it wasn't True Crime #2 at all that the kids were looking at.  It was a panel from All-Top #14 (which did end up in SOTI) and a panel from another book (which I identified some time ago, but don't know offhand which one).

Comic_Art_Digest_Article_2.thumb.jpg.b0c5d43d247656a0747bca13c0155524.jpg

So True Crime #2 was not mentioned in the promo piece for the gallery like I thought.

It was, however, included on a Christmas card Wertham sent with that newsstand image.  You can just barely see the logo under his right wrist.

I always figured this photo was staged, probably with comics from Wertham's own collection, based on the publication dates of the comics and the fact that there were multiple issues of the same title (True Crime, Human Torch).  Plus the fact that True Crime #2 just happens to appear here.

Comic_Wertham_Christmas_Card.thumb.jpg.8cbfa44489e8ca7d23c3c1cbd55c142f.jpg

 

And just for fun, here's a photostat in Wertham's files, which is most likely the photostat Wertham used for the publication of SOTI.

Comic_TrueCrime2Photostat_at_LOC.thumb.jpg.19dbbfe76d7ebb8181a802c7dd8b77eb.jpg

 

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Hap Hazard

Hap Hazard

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On 9/1/2020 at 6:35 PM, OtherEric said:

Here's a real "one and done" book I have, for Timely Heroes.  This is my only issue of Marvel Mystery; and the only GA appearance I have of the Human Torch, Captain America, and the Blonde Phantom.  It also features the Sub-Mariner (I have one issue of that title) and Venus (I have about 4/5 of the Venus run, in very low grade). So the three major Timely heroes and two of the minor ones; it will do for me:

Marvel_Mystery_91.jpg

I agree great cover picked up this copy about 25 years ago.

marvel mystery comics91 001.jpg

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