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Fredric Wertham

Seduction of the Innocent Hardcover – January 1, 1996

by Fredric Wertham (Author)

4.2 53 ratings

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Result of 7 years of scientific investigation into the effects that comic books have on the minds and behavior of children who come in contact with them. His ideas on the harmful effects created by media-induced violence resonate with those who are concerned by the searing of our cultural fabric. Includes new Introduction by Wertham scholar, James E. Reibman, Ph.D.

Language

English
Publisher

Main Road Books Inc.
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0848816579
ISBN-13

978-0848816575
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Main Road Books Inc. (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0848816579
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0848816575
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.2 53 ratings

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Fredric Wertham

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4.2 out of 5

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Richie Jingles

A Revelation...

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2012

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I've read ABOUT this book since I was 14, almost 60 now... it was always portrayed as the obsessed work of a close minded blue nose censor who HATED comic books and did his best to gut and derail an artistic industry that produced wonderful work before he stuck his big nose in...As usual, some truth, and a huge amount of exaggeration on both sides of the issue. It is true that he DID hate comic books with a vengence and blamed them for the juvenile delinquents he treated in his pysch clinics and private practice... and it's true that he read all kinds of evil, racism,and homosexual influence into the most innocent (to the vast majority of us readers) superheros we all loved..THAT"s all true.. To me, Superman personified the power of GOOD...after all he stood for truth, justice and the American way! Right next to God himself in my child's mind---he fought evil, was incapable of evil---that's the perspective of an all american boy of the 1950's--- Understanding Wertham's perspective makes his viewpoint easier to understand--he was a German jew who escaped from the nazis. The concept of "UBERMENSCH"--german for SUPERMAN was written by Hitler's favorite philosopher--- Friedrich Nietzche(sic). Superman came from a SUPER RACE, he wore a UNIFORM emblazoned with the BOLD symbol of an "S". Wertham writes it might as well be an "SS"--you can see my point... BUT, he had a great big point that all us rabid comic fans refused to admit for a generation--- there really WERE TERRIBLY BAD comic books being published during the late 40's and early 50's! A fact I did not glean from this book, but from reading reprints of NON EC horror and especially CRIME DOES NOT PAY... THIS STUFF REALLY WAS A HORRIBLE INFLUENCE ON KIDS! Unfortunatly, SOME of the comic publishers of the day were driven strictly by sales reports ( well, they all were, but the bottom were even more unscrupulous...) and as crime and horror themes sold well, the books got more and more extreme, eventually tarring the whole industry. Reading Wertham's perspective on the matter is nothing short of fascinating---for a real comic fan, you can't really comprehend what happened pre code unless you read this book!

10 people found this helpful

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Ryan P Fleming

A Nice Reprinting.

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2022

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It was a nice, new, hardcover reprint (no dust jacket). Only complaint is I felt the price was a little high.

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Seth Hexx

Panic mongering

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2023

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I have been waiting to get my hands on this book since I first heard of it at a young age just discovering comics, and I knew what to expect: I knew the ‘science’ was anecdotal and sketchy, and I also knew that pre-code comics were a little rough. I’m glad I finally got this for its place in history, but it really is unreadable and brings to mind all the other socially phobic panics of the 1950s.
I think this book simply cannot be read objectively at this point in history and it’s hard to imagine what the world was like back then. It’s worth noting that these issues of what children are exposed to via media tend to crop up every 20-30 years, my most vivid recollection being the PMRC in the early 90s.
Big grains of salt and has more value as a historical document.

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internech

Seduction of the Idiots

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2013

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Unlike the movie industry, which reacted to the complaints against so called objectionable films by allowing the Breen code to be formed, the comic book industry ignored a rising tide of public criticism about the sex and violence kids could read, until the industry almost perished. Comics also included ads for weapons and such items as "breast enlargers, which made comics an even more of a target. That said, Wertham blasts virtually every comic book. Superman is a Nazi concept, although we should be grateful that the S on his shirt is not an S.S. In addition to the irony that the creators of Superman were two Jewish kids who invented the hero as fascism was emerging in the 1930s as a hero of the weak and defenseless, Wertham tacitly approves comic book burning, although the Nazis routinely burned "objectionable reading matter." Wertham's theory of a gay relationship between Batman and Robin, might have been the inspiration for the Lenny Bruce routine, "Thank You, Masked Man," where the Lone Ranger wanted Tonto for a sex partner. (When the good doctor appeared on a talk show during the height of the Batman TV show, he still denounced comics but remained silent on the Batman-Robin liaison.)A 70s newspaper article revisited Wertham's book, and he claimed that comic books no longer showed people getting dismembered, but comics weren't good because they thwarted good reading. Ultimately, Wertham's cure was worse than the disease he fought.

7 people found this helpful

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A. Christian

Progressives in Regress

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2014

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This book is a must read that proves liberals never change. "Doctor" Wertham was a well known communist progressive (he helped defend the communist spy Ethel Rosenberg and organized with Robeson and Planned Parenthood among many other communist activities laid out in the introduction) that openly attacked the 1st amendment to the constitution in his book repeatedly. He makes the case that free speech should be abridged "for the children" and also proposes more gun control. His criminology theory laid out here refuses to blame individuals for crime and instead passes the buck to "society." This book sets up the talking points used today to attack gun ownership, free speech, the freedom of the press, and the criminal justice system, for the actions of a sick minority of the population that are violent criminals. Disavowing "radical individualism" and anti-social(ism)) Wertham explains that everyone should accept responsibility for the actions of others, but no institution should be blamed more than the "mass media" of the comic book industry. Historically his tactics worked as he shamed entire nations into successfully banning comic books. The book is so blatantly anti-american that even his valid criticism of the contents of comic books is entirely muted by his unrelenting war to destroy the freedom of the press and speech is laid out. After reading this book I can say without a doubt that enemy of free speech and the press has always been the communist party who hide behind the more moderately sounding "progressive" label.

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Seduction of the Innocent Hardcover – January 1, 1996

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