The Secret History of How Comic Book Publishers Solved Crime in America
A look back at the ancient historical era known as the 1950s
In the 1950s the topic of juvenile delinquency became so prominent in America that senate hearings were held on the subject. The scapegoat for the problem of juvenile crime ended up being comic books. It was a blow they still haven’t recovered from. This article will be an overview of what happened and the fallout.
Fredric Wertham was a German-American psychiatrist born in 1895. He worked with some juvenile delinquents and observed how many of these patients were comic book readers. So he looked at the comic books they were reading. In these books he found overt and covert depictions of violence, sex, drug use, and other such subject matter. Being a nerd of a different stripe, he committed the terrible error of lumping several different genres of comics under the same label. For Wertham, superhero, horror and crime were all the same thing as they all contained depictions of acts he believed were being imitated by juvenile delinquents. Fredric Wertham went on to testify before the senate and he threw comic books under the bus. It was a time of intense zeal and comic book burnings were held in wholesome towns all over America.
At this time the comics business was booming and publishers were multiplying titles to meet demand. Though Wertham was taking aim at Batman and Robin for depicting a homosexual relationship between an adult man and a child, mostly the crosshairs were aimed at EC Comics. Here are a few examples of images found in EC Comics books that were accessible to juveniles.
Looking at these gruesome and violent images one might concede that Wertham had a strong case for comic books being the cause of juvenile delinquency. But keep in mind that comic books were a cheap product with a returnability feature. This meant that a retailer could put books up for sale and return to the publisher those that didn’t sell. For a retailer it was a perfect no risk product. Comic books ended up being ubiquitous. Sales were in the millions. In addition to this children read comics communally. They would share the comics amongst themselves. Virtually every child in an urban to semi-urban area was exposed to comics. It’s no surprise then that the delinquents Wertham worked with were comics readers. They also probably wore pants. Co-relation does not equal causation.
It’s important to note that before EC Comics owner Maxwell Gaines was called to testify before the senate, his company saw itself as being above the standard comic fare. They invested in better artists, allowed them more time to complete their work and used better printing methods. In their view EC Comics was pushing the medium past its perception of being disposable entertainment for children. Gaines’ tactic when the pressure on comics publishers mounted was to double down instead of tone it down. It went poorly. Here is an excerpt of Gaines being grilled in the hearings on April 21 1954.
Counsel Beaser : Let me get the limits as far as what you put into your magazine. Is the sole test whether it sells? Is there any limit you can think of that you would not put in a magazine because you thought a child should not see or read about it?
Gaines: No, I wouldn’t say that there is any limit for the reason you outlined. My only limits are bounds of good taste, what I consider to be good taste. Senator Estes Kefauver : Here is your May 22 issue of Crime Suspenstories. This seems to be a man with a bloody axe holding a woman’s head up, which has been severed from her body. Do you think that is in good taste?
Gaines : yes sir, I do, for the cover of a horror comic. A cover in bad taste for example might be defined as holding the head a little higher so that the neck could be seen dripping blood from it and moving the body over a little further so the neck of the body could be seen to be bloody.
After the senate hearings the ill-will towards comic book publishers became so intense that almost all publishers agreed to the creation of and compliance to a Comics Code Authority. None of this was compelled by law. They just did it to save their business. The CCA seal was displayed on the covers; a sort of apotropaic symbol to protect against juvenile delinquency I guess. It worked! This is why to this day no one under the age of 19 commits a crime in America.
The CCA survived into the new millennium. Marvel comics only stopped submitting their books to the CCA in 2001. The scapegoating of comics was a brutal blow to sales. It put many publishers out of business. This event stunted comics’ growth in public consciousness. Even today comics are seen as childish and embarrassing by most normies. The Japanese and Franco-Belgian comics market never suffered the same reputational injury. Comics there are enjoyed freely by children and adults alike and the medium has bloomed into a rich variety of inspiring forms. Sadly, these countries still deal with roving bands of frothing child criminals.
In future articles I will discuss how the adaptation to the Comics Code Authority is responsible for the supremacy of the superhero genre in American comics. And we will discuss the various “ages” of American comics history. Subscribe now to not miss these articles
interesting! Also, enjoyed the voiceover and photos!