Seducing the Innocent - Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications that Helped Condemn Comics.pdf

Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn ComicsCarol L. Tilley Information & Culture: A Journal of History, Volume 47, Number 4, 2012, pp. 383-413 (Article) Published by University of Texas Press DOI: 10.1353/lac.2012.0024 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lac/summary/v047/47.4.tilley.html Access provided by University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign (22 Jun 2013 02:07 GMT) 383 Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics Carol L. Tilley Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham and his 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent serve as historical and cultural touchstones of the anticomics movement in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. Although there have been persistent concerns about the clinical evidence Wertham used as the basis for Seduction, his sources were made widely available only in 2010. This article documents specific examples of how Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain. Books do not have their impact upon the mass mind but upon the minds of those who mould the mass mind—upon leaders of thought and formulators of public opinion. The impact of a book may last six months or several decades. Books are the most enduring propaganda of all. —Memo from the United States Office of War Information, 19441 For anyone interested in twentieth-century print culture—especially comics and similar forms of child-selected media—Fredric Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent serve as historical and cultural touchstones. Seduction, a rousing call for limitations on the sale of comics to children based on the author’s clinical evidence of the format’s detrimental links to juvenile delinquency and general children’s welfare, captured the American public’s imagination when it was published in April 1954. Sociologist C. Wright Mills, writing in the New York Times, called it “a most commendable use of the professional mind in the service of the public.” Margaret Martignoni, director of children’s work at the Brooklyn Public Library, writing in a letter that was excerpted for the book’s advertising campaign, called Seduction “‘must’ reading for thoughtful parents, teachers, librarians, social workers and all other adults concerned with children’s reading and with child development.” An advertisement for the book in the New York Times carried esteemed Information & Culture, Vol. 47, No. 4, 2012 ©2012 by the University of Texas Press, PO Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819 DOI: 10.7560/IC47401 384 I&C/Seducing the Innocent children’s book editor May Massee’s exclamation, “Thanks to you for publishing Dr. Wertham’s SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT. It is certainly well named . . . [f]rightening . . . [c]onvincing . . . overpowering.” Joy Elmer Morgan, editor of the National Education Association’s NEA Journal, selected it as the book of the year, recommending it to parents, teachers, and librarians. Although he faulted Wertham’s rhetorical strategies, child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim praised the book’s “irrefutable evidence” in a review in Library Quarterly. Literary critic Sterling North deemed it “the most important book of the year,” and fellow intellectual Clifton Fadiman wrote privately to Wertham that he knew “the book will do a lot of good.”2 Within six months, the book had sold more than sixteen thousand copies in the United States, a figure Wertham’s literary agent believed would have been greater had the book not been discussed so extensively in various forums, including televised hearings of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.3 After the conclusion of World War II, widespread public concern arose about the changing landscape of comics publishing. In the early 1940s, superhero titles dominated comics publishing. Some literary and cultural critics such as Sterling North and Stanley Kunitz objected to super­ hero themes because of their perceived violent and Fascist elements, but as many superheroes contributed to the war effort through their story lines, and because most adult Americans were preoccupied with the ongoing conflict, these objections never attained a critical mass. Superhero titles continued to be published following the end of the war, but publishers introduced new genres such as romance, jungle, horror, and true crime, which flourished. In part, publishers intended these new genres to capture the reading interests of more mature readers, especially veterans and other young adults who grew up on superhero comics but now wanted more substantive reading matter. That publishers intended these newer genres for a nonchild audience failed to keep young readers from devouring titles with deliciously provocative titles such as Untamed Love, Forbidden Worlds, and Shocking Mystery. One consequence of this young readership was that throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, cities and other municipalities promulgated legislation that attempted to restrict the sale of certain comics to adults only, while a variety of civic, professional, and similar organizations such as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the American Legion, and the National Council of Juvenile Court Judges articulated their concerns about the purported deleterious effects that comics had on younger readers. Wertham’s papers there remained under an embargo until the late spring of 2010.4 The psychiatrist’s work spurred an already galvanized public to agitate successfully for changes in the editorial and advertising content of comic books. No wonder Wertham has often been caricatured by fans as a prissy.5 Even though comics publishers also faced increasing competition from the nascent television industry for children’s attention. excessive violence. the CMAA’s code effectively marked the end of comics’ reign as the most popular print medium among children in history. The popular whipping boy for this demise? Fredric Wertham. Catherine Yronwode. in 1983.7 My initial goal in using Wertham’s papers was not to discredit him. So although Wertham’s anticomics work was not the only factor that led to the 1954 creation of the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and its restrictive editorial code—which aimed to stave off government intervention in the industry and persisted with modifications until January 2011—it is considered by most scholars and comics aficionados as central to these developments.” Easy enough to mock.6 Although Wertham’s wife. transferred ownership of his extensive personal archive to the Library of Congress soon after his death in the early 1980s. in turn.385 Wertham’s book and his earlier anticomics work was part of this landscape of concern. cold Germanic elitist who wanted to deprive American kids of their entertaining reading material. despise him. and supernatural beings. Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture. the resulting book. The CMAA’s resulting code. gatekeepers . spoke for many when she wrote. Hesketh. I went in hopes of finding correspondence from librarians and teachers that might enhance my own research agenda on examining the relationship among children. Until 2010. departed from much previous writing about Wertham in its generally favorable view of its subject and sought to rehabilitate Wertham’s popular and scholarly image. As comics scholar Jeet Heer noted in a recent Slate article. Wertham showed up in a brief and unsympathetic cameo in Michael Chabon’s [Pulitzer] prize-­ winning book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. instead. it appears only historian Bart Beaty had been granted access to the psychiatrist’s manuscript collection. a popular historian and comic-book fan. “We hate [Wertham]. He and he alone virtually brought about the collapse of the comic book industry in the 1950s. crippled the successful comics industry by ensuring that comics that carried its imprimatur were free of offensive content such as poor grammar. law enforcement. despite its accolades and its central role in moving comics further to the cultural sidelines. This article documents specific examples of how Wertham manipulated. Wertham seems to have been an inveterate notetaker and underliner. Ultimately. and more. although I have found relevant materials scattered throughout the remaining files. newspaper clippings. sifting through this wealth of papers—case records. I argue that Wertham privileged his interests in the cultural elements of social psychiatry and mental hygiene at the expense of systematic and verifiable science. personal correspondence. At present. and comics during the mid-twentieth century in the United States. many of them had behavior disorders. Wertham’s Seduction included numerous falsifications and distortions. Superheroes and Their Savonarola Fredric Wertham was a German-born American psychiatrist who specialized in forensic psychiatry. what almost all of Wertham’s young patients shared—and what . many of which are filed to correspond with particular chapters in Seduction of the Innocent. He devoted much of his practice in the 1940s and 1950s to the diagnosis and treatment of children identified by schools. Thus between the filing arrangements and his notes. a catchall diagnosis that included truancy. transcripts of treatment sessions. it is possible to discern much about how he constructed his writings. and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain. I found that. Although a portion of the children Wertham treated had diagnosed neuroses or psychoses. Within the first few hours of my examination of his papers. overstated. an action that ultimately serves to discredit him and the claims he made about comics. notes from telephone conversations. and court officers as juvenile delinquents.386 I&C/Seducing the Innocent of children’s reading. often annotating documents to indicate that he was planning to use particular items in his writing. shoplifting. and daydreaming. I have spent twelve days onsite at the Library of Congress. More than twenty-five boxes specifically focus on Seduction of the Innocent and his related anticomics writings. social welfare agencies. The quantity of materials available in the Wertham collection is daunting: more than two hundred boxes of papers. These young people often came from impoverished homes in New York City neighborhoods rife with street gang activity and other criminal activity.8 Along with a somewhat nonspecific diagnosis. I began to see patterns that both troubled and intrigued me. compromised. and still others who identified comics as trash. however. others who outgrew comics altogether. often avidly. the psychiatrist was not alone in his crusade: throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. pharmacists. or for different magazines. “Comics are traded for junk. mental illness. conceded that “not every comic book is bad for children’s minds and emotions. at least vicariously.”14 Children’s tastes in reading have never been monolithic. for other comics. “the sort of thing that children who are not well brought up read. For instance. still. and many other . Moreover.”13 Of course. police officers. Most critics of comics.”12 Another researcher remarked.” Wertham.9 During the time Wertham sought to suppress comics reading. psychologist Ruth Strang reported that a mother told her that “during one day sixteen children rang her doorbell. religious leaders.387 he sought most to understand—was their pastime of and passion for reading comic books. in “the rumbling realities” of the everyday adult world. for things to eat. librarians. delinquency.10 At ten cents each for most new issues compared to a typical two-dollar price for a juvenile hardcover book.11 Comics also served as an important social currency for young people. comics gave young readers an opportunity to participate. comics were affordable print matter for young people. asking if they could trade comic magazines with her child. Unlike the “shallow and inane” content that characterized much of mainstream juvenile literature. though. not all children read comics: among the children communication researchers Katherine Wolf and Marjorie Fiske interviewed. for example.”15 Certainly. who frequently developed elaborate trading procedures and shared purchasing arrangements. that his patients read comics was to Wertham’s mind both causal and symptomatic of the conditions he diagnosed. the pervasiveness of comics as reading materials points to this medium as the most dominant cultural force in children’s lives during the 1940s and 1950s. were inveterate comic-book readers. This belief fueled his work with young people and secured his popular legacy—Wertham died in 1981—as a secular Savonarola. in her study of children’s readership of comics. one can find readers who found particular comics’ genres boring. with whom we have had contact. research and market surveys indicated that more than 90 percent of children and more than 80 percent of teens in the United States read comics. and other certain dooms. eager to quash comic books and their publishers in an attempt to save the young people of America from illiteracy. and all children drawn into the narcotics traffic as messengers. educators. derogated these claims with statements such as the following: “All child drug addicts. including Wertham. including the Reader’s Digest and Ladies’ Home Journal. calling them “a training school for young impressionable minds” that could “spawn only a generation of Storm Troopers. then a literary critic for the Chicago Daily News. and sales were as high as one hundred million new issues monthly. Gauleiter. Although newspaper comic strips had been collected into book format for resale as early as 1903 and into pamphlet format for promotional purposes as early as 1929. audacious Supermen.23 By the early 1950s more than six hundred titles could be found on newsstands. Writing in an editorial colorfully titled “A National Disgrace (and a Challenge to American Parents). compared comics to Nazis. Wertham.”18 John Mason Brown. For instance. Stanley Kunitz. funny animals. the curse of the kids. jungle queens.24 In comparison. by 1945 readers could select from more than one hundred comic book titles. the top-selling children’s book of 1953.22 A popular title such as Batman could easily sell more than a million copies for each issue. and coarse. four-color tales of superheroes. comic books did not begin to reach a wide audience until publishers introduced Superman and other original characters in the late 1930s. and gangsters. . the future US poet laureate but in 1941 the editor of the Wilson Library Bulletin.25 Public libraries in the United States during that same era circulated approximately four hundred million items annually.19 The comic books that North. the horror of the home.”17 Other examples abound.20 Whereas in 1939 “twenty-three weekly and comic periodicals which continue the adventures of the daily and Sunday funny paper characters” could be found on newsstands and in drugstores. equal to the combined sales of the four best-selling noncomics magazines. North inaugurated the widespread criticism of comic books in May 1940. and a threat to the future” in a 1948 radio episode of Town Meeting of the Air. and others railed against were a new innovation. sold fewer than sixty thousand copies.21 Sales figures for that year indicate that readers purchased almost twenty-five million comics each month.16 Even hyperbole was normal for many of the critics who railed against comics. the bane of the bassinet.388 I&C/Seducing the Innocent concerned adults spoke out about children’s seemingly insatiable reading appetite for the inexpensive. Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion Revolts. Having just completed service as a member of the American Library Association’s Committee on Intellectual Freedom. Perhaps the best-known example comes from Sterling North. a literary critic and columnist for the Saturday Review of Literature.” North characterized comic books as a “poisonous mushroom growth” that drained “the pockets of America’s children” in exchange for a “hypodermic injection of sex and murder. famously deemed comics “the marijuana of the nursery. Wertham became the leading public figure of the American anticomics movement of the late 1940s and early 1950s. children nonetheless represented a significant portion of comics sales and readership. although it is important to caution that neither sales figures nor circulation numbers are indicative of actual readership. National Parent-Teacher. when he organized a symposium. comic books veered into increasingly mature. the Summer Session Institute at Columbia University’s Teachers College. and Ladies’ Home Journal. as the content developed beyond superheroes and funny animals. He wrote and spoke prolifically on the subject of crime comics and their contributions to youthful delinquency and mental infirmity. entered the public debate over the suitability of comics as reading material for children in March 1948. sales figures shortchange readership. For instance. and gory thematic territories.” that included folklorist Gershon Legman and psychiatrist Paula Elkisch as speakers. “The Psychopathology of Comic Books.26 If anything. dark. he published articles on comics in periodicals as diverse as the Saturday Review of Literature. even as sales of comics climbed. Seduction of the Innocent. Wertham’s expertise on comics caused him to be consulted by the United States Senate’s Committee on Organized Crime in 1950 and by its Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1954 as well as by the New York Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication of Comics in 1951. Thus.27 More recently. adult gatekeepers of children’s reading and culture renewed their attacks on the comics industry.28 The United States’ entry into World War II dampened some of the criticism for comics.31 His comics-related speaking engagements included a meeting of the American Prison Association. that he “repeatedly thought that [he] could retire from the comic-book field. the author of a 1948 Collier’s Magazine article about his anticomics work.389 with approximately half of those items categorized as juvenile materials. the number of people who may have read each issue that was sold—was between five and eight. and a meeting of the Women’s National Book Association. Fredric Wertham.” he realized that he would “have to keep up this work for a while. Even though the format had never been intended for a solely child audience.”30 In fact. who had not spoken or written about comics during the earlier wave of criticism. as the pass-through rate for comics— that is. sales for the top three hundred comic book titles of 2011 totaled seventy-two million issues for the entire year.29 Although Wertham privately confided that same year to Judith Crist. published . but as comics publishers sought to retain and grow readership in postwar America. for him. a German psychiatrist. popularly remembered. not simply behavioral and physical manifestations. first in 1922 with Emil Kraepelin at his clinic in Munich and then for much of the remainder of the decade with Adolf Meyer at the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at Johns Hopkins University. is a simple one: reading crime comic books harms children’s moral. Kraepelin.390 I&C/Seducing the Innocent in early 1954 by Rinehart and Company. again with a focus on larger social and cultural factors. The book’s thesis. science-fiction. was a pioneer in psychiatric nosology whose influence is visible today in the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Wertham viewed the violent content of comics and other mass media as a public health concern that demanded regulation.”32 Consequently. For Wertham.g. which sought information about a patient’s family life. contributed to a person’s health and well-being. His intake questionnaire for the Lafargue Clinic in Harlem. almost no sector of the comics-publishing industry was immune from Wertham’s critiques. Western. social.34 These two fields complement one another: the first seeks to understand mental illness within social and cultural contexts. however. was the ultimate expression of Wertham’s thoughts on the impact of reading comics on children’s welfare.” which he believed was not a moral issue. “orientation as to what is right and wrong is part of normal mental health. demonstrates that Wertham’s thesis is more nuanced. jungle. exemplifies Wertham’s concerns. ‘horror’ or supernatural beings. in the societal . “crime comic books are comic books that depict crime. and mental development. This holistic view of health. Kraepelin seems to have posited neo-Lamarckian ideas about the role of addiction and mental illness in society (e. adventure or the realm of supermen. while the latter endeavors to promote mental wellness. In addition to his contributions to the procedures of differential diagnosis of mental illness. then. crime comics were not only those such as Crime Must Pay the Penalty. conforms to his professional orientation as both a social psychiatrist and a mental hygienist. informed his approach to psychiatry. educational background. physical.36 It seems unsurprising that Wertham might have been interested. instead. that alcoholism leads to broader social degeneration). as part of a greater social order.. recreational pursuits. rather. A deeper reading of Seduction. encountered violent content in mass media was especially insidious. in which “crime” was a featured part of the title or contents.35 Wertham’s apprenticeships. physical condition.”33 For Wertham. in particular. along with Wertham’s thesis in Seduction. That children. and behavioral symptoms. culture. published by the American Psychiatric Association. whether the setting is urban. as it harmed “their ethical development. he believed. such as criminality. Dark Legend: A Study in Murder (1941) and The Show of Violence (1949).”37 Wertham clearly viewed comics reading as a form of socially undesirable behavior. including the National Research Council–funded The Brain as an Organ: Its Postmortem Study and Interpretation (1934) and popular profiles in criminology. His published research appeared in respected peer-reviewed journals such as Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry. who was being held at Sing Sing Prison in solitary confinement prior to her 1953 execution for espionage. mental illness was only an extreme form of mental disorder. In turn. Although Wertham is today frequently remembered as a caricature at best—a footnote in the annals of cultural criticism—his work on comics formed only a portion of his career. Wertham’s second mentor. Journal of Psychotherapy. . Wertham founded the Lafargue Clinic. The doctor also testified before a judge in an unsuccessful attempt to secure psychiatric treatment for Ethel Rosenberg. this behavior contributed to improper ethical development and poor mental health.391 consequences of young people reading about violent acts in comic books. “Meyer viewed mental disorders as a disorganization in a person’s habit system arising at a specific point in time for specific reasons. American Journal of Psychiatry. Of particular importance in his influence on Wertham. including that of cannibalistic serial killer Albert Fish in 1935 as well as the 1951 Delaware desegregation hearings that helped lead to the United States Supreme Court’s 1954 overturn of segregated education in Brown v. Meyer. later he worked with the Rosenbergs’ two sons. encouraged by African American novelist Richard Wright. He testified at high-profile trials. rather. including time as director of Bellevue’s Mental Hygiene Clinic. He wrote numerous books. Meyer broadened the scope of psychiatry to include all forms of socially undesirable behavior. and vagrancy. He had a lengthy career with the New York Department of Hospitals as a senior psychiatrist. a low-cost mental hygiene clinic in Harlem that was one of the first of its kind to provide comprehensive social and mental health services primarily to people of color. pauperism. at least among children. In his perspective. was a Swiss-born psychiatrist who served as president of the American Psychiatric Association and today is largely remembered for modernizing the practice of psychiatry through valuing record keeping and the taking of comprehensive case notes. helping secure their adoption. mental disorder included many forms of socially inefficient behavior. By developing a psychiatry of adjustment [as opposed to one focused on neurology and brain lesions]. In 1946. and Journal of Criminal Psychopathology. Board of Education. alcoholism. 39 Although typical child guidance clinics did not treat young people who had more severe disorders such as dementia praecox (i. This teenager had been admitted because she wanted to kill her younger brother. although the mission for these clinics quickly expanded to treat conditions consistent with Meyer’s ideal psychiatric purview. Hilde Mosse.” was one of Dr. both the Hookey Club and the Remedial Reading Clinic.g.38 The words and experiences of these children formed the basis for much of the clinical evidence presented in Seduction of the Innocent. daydreaming and restlessness). Wertham and his staff treated nearly fifteen hundred adults and juveniles between 1946 and 1956. approximately one-third were children. that is..e. and “undesirable behaviors” (e. were conducted at Queens General Hospital. According to one set of clinic statistics. “personality traits” (e. For instance. “I like one where a man puts a needle in a woman’s eye.. initially to respond to growing social concerns about juvenile delinquency.41 But these other venues also served as sites for some of the group therapy and mental hygiene programs Wertham directed. Kings County Hospital.g. the Lafargue Clinic treated persons with both mild and severe maladjustments. which he documented in Seduction. In many instances. approximately one-quarter were white. the young people whom the psychiatrists saw in these settings tended to have much more extreme disorders that required hospitalization. and Queens General Hospital. the majority were black and Latino.40 For the evidence presented in Seduction.392 I&C/Seducing the Innocent Manipulating the Innocent: Wertham and the Clinical Evidence At the Lafargue Clinic. Of the total patients. characterized the scope of conditions relevant to these clinics as including “undesirable habits” (e. schizophrenia).. a psychiatrist who studied under Meyer and a leader in the child guidance movement. Child guidance clinics developed in the 1920s. and of these. truancy and disobedience). Wertham also drew on the experiences of children he and his associates.g. masturbation and nightmares). calculated by a staff member by examining a sample of 250 charts. those conditions Truitt identified as problematic rather than severe. Ralph Truitt.. including Dr. the young woman Wertham quoted as remembering about comics. treated at other New York City venues such as Bellevue Hospital Center. For example. Although Wertham . more than 70 percent of children under the age of sixteen treated at Lafargue had diagnoses of behavior problems. Lafargue’s protocols for treating younger patients were connected to mental hygiene’s corollary field of child guidance. a fantasy she had experienced consistently for more than six years. Mosse’s patients at Kings County. chose to omit any mention of the Tijuana Bible—a cheaply produced erotic comic—that Paul brought with him. . that when he asked a group of boys “if they actually had a little girl in a lonely place. “They all smile and Paul says. Additionally. a comic that ran for only three issues.”42 The incident he reported here occurred during a June 1948 meeting of the Comic Book Readers Club.’ ‘It is more exciting. More specifically. Batman and Robin offered readers “a wish dream of two homosexuals living . Wertham asked each of the six boys present “whether he liked girls being tortured. In the chapter of Seduction about the relationship between comics reading and children’s psychosexual development. Eroticism and Wish Dreams Wertham found the gratuitous linking of violence and sexuality to be one of the most disturbing features of the comics he studied. while perhaps technically possible given the quality and quantity of archival material he preserved. would be a labor of many years. . if not outright stimulated. The following examples document instances where Wertham seemed to place himself in an observational position where it was not warranted. The examples presented here are not intended to be exhaustive. with relative accuracy. interestingly. Wertham proposed that homosexual men identified strongly with the Batman comics because of the camaraderie between the superhero and his younger sidekick. many of the male comics readers with whom he spoke were intrigued.44 In Seduction. by the depictions of women that featured bondage or torture scenarios. would [they] really like to tie her up. they highlight occurrences where Wertham edited and altered children’s statements and clinical presentations to make his rhetorical position more compelling to readers. Finally.’” Later he asked them if they liked seeing girls tortured in real life as well as in comics. Everybody smiled— and every hand went up. to correlate all of Wertham’s sources for Seduction. the examples give evidence that Wertham inaccurately characterized his own clinical research and frequently failed to attribute ideas that he liberally borrowed from others.393 signaled his indebtedness to his colleagues in the acknowledgments for Seduction. ‘I haven’t said a word. . beat her and torture her.’”43 Wertham embellished the context for his questions and. Each says ‘Yes. he recalled. he never consistently indicated in the book which examples he drew from firsthand knowledge rather than his colleagues’ reports. One of the two girls who attended that day’s meeting brought a recent copy of Crime Reporter. Indeed. Batman could have saved this boy’s life.) My favorites are the war comics. Batman could have saved this boy’s life. “I think I put myself in the position of Robin. They live together.48 About him. less obvious changes. ages sixteen and seventeen. A close comparison of the texts reveals that Wertham gave much greater weight to the boy’s readership of Batman than the case transcript indicated. For instance.”47 Further. failing to indicate that the seventeen-year-old is the one who noted. I don’t remember Batman’s name. Whereas Wertham remarks that the boy read these comics repetitively.394 I&C/Seducing the Innocent together. if not obsessively. In the same chapter. the elision that Wertham documented actually comes after.”45 As part of his evidence for this identification. and that his readership was contemporaneous with his therapy. . He may have made him take his thing in his mouth. I liked it once but not so much now. Robin looks something like a girl. also Superman. Wertham shared the insights of a young homosexual man who stated. not before. It could be that Batman did something with Robin like I did with the younger boy. He has only trunks on. Robin looks something like a girl. the boy places his Batman readership in the past. . (Italics indicate text that was omitted from or changed in Seduction. the sentence “Batman could have saved this boy’s life. I read CRIME Does Not Pay. They show off a lot. A comparison reveals other. I did want to have relations with Batman. He has only trunks on. “like my friend and I.” Although this . Wertham introduced the case of a thirteen-yearold boy who was on probation and receiving counseling because he urinated in another boy’s mouth. Wertham combined their statements. They show off a lot.” and omitting the phrase that followed.’”49 The case file presents a different account. Wertham did not make any mention that the two teens had found the Submariner and Tarzan to be better subjects than Batman and Robin for their early erotic fantasies. I have read Batman. I don’t know Batman’s name but the boy’s name is Robin. It could be that Batman did something with Robin like I did with the younger boy. he was a special devotee of Batman: ‘Sometimes I read them over and over again. Wertham wrote: “Like many other homo-erotically inclined children. who had been in a sexual relationship with one another for several years and had realized they were homosexual by the age of ten. They live together. “The only suggestion of homosexuality may be that they seemed to be so close to each other. but the boy’s name is Robin.”46 The young man from the anecdote was actually two men. . . In the case notes. in Wertham’s case it belies a more systematic carelessness in his treatment of evidence. Moreover. And I have seen a parallel scene with the same implications when Wonder Woman had breakfast with an admiring young girl.395 is a small deviation that in other circumstances could be overlooked as a mistake. . but it was between Batman and his boy. and had both a reading disability and low normal intelligence.” Yet Wertham omits from Seduction—and seemingly from his analysis—a revealing story about Dorothy’s everyday reality. Wertham claimed that the boy had homosexual tendencies and that those tendencies correlated with the boy’s interest in Batman.51 According to the book and the case notes. Wertham quoted Dorothy saying about jungle comics. Wertham also declined to mention in Seduction that Dorothy—in addition to being habitually truant—was a runaway and a gang member. Dorothy read jungle comics with strong females like Sheena as well as crime comics. not his. complete with checkered tablecloth. Wertham failed to inform his readers that. On the final page of Dorothy’s case notes. milk. he wrote. Wertham instead wrote: “She would be good and non-aggressive if society would let her—Comic Books are part of society. taken to a rooftop. Wertham also believed that comics offered girl readers their own lesbian wish dreams. where he did not practice. Wertham commented that the images of strong women reinforced “violent revenge fantasies against men and possibly creates these violent anti-men (therefore homosexual) fantasies. .”52 In the case notes. dressing-gown and newspaper. a thirteen-year-old African American girl and a habitual truant from an impoverished family. Sheena. . cereal.”50 It was comic book images of another strong woman. which she regretted never showed the criminals getting away with their crimes. and as she was hospitalized at Kings County Hospital. described as enjoying. he would have never spoken with or observed her. Mosse’s patient. For example.”53 Most telling of all. prior to the boy’s arrest. and robbed of less than one dollar. is a key fact Wertham omitted from Seduction: Dorothy was Dr. Yet as the textual comparison indicates. “I like to see the way they jump up and kick men down and kill them! . that Dorothy. including Penalty. was sexually active. fruit juice. charming breakfast scene. Sheena and the other comic book women such as Wonder Woman are very bad ideals for them. . “I have seen an elaborate. however. the boy’s interest in Batman lay in the past. the other boy had ­sodomized him. Sheena got a big jungle she lives in and people down there likes her and would do anything for her. she related an incident in which her aunt was accosted by gang members. Finally. . colored with copious quotations from the boy. Finally. though. instead. but a careful comparison of his case as presented in Seduction of the Innocent with the archival notes demonstrates how Wertham manipulated evidence to persuade readers of the ill effects of comic book reading on children’s behavior. that he has stolen from . Wertham painted a picture. Look at this one with all the pictures of the man without his head!” In the case notes. Kafka for Kiddies. who claimed the boy had “wild imaginations” and engaged in rough play with neighborhood children. however. I don’t think they should read Captain Marvel. in the book Richard says.” Readers of Seduction are free to use their own “wild imaginations” in visualizing what could be a potentially gory decapitated man. because he might get scared. nowhere in Seduction did the psychiatrist provide the richer context for Richard that he professed to believe was key to understanding the etiology of a patient’s disease. and Love Comics Richard. the case notes include Wertham’s comments that “there are 5 pictures like this on one page. All of these actions. . he has been splashed in the face with an invisibility potion. readers are not privy to knowing that Richard’s mother is actually his stepmother. For instance. Richard referred not to “horror comic books” but to “fiction comic books. mock-threatened playmates with eye gouging and hanging.”56 That Richard engaged in the activities Wertham described or even that he spoke many of the words Wertham attributed to him is not in dispute. When they buy the comic books they start thinking all sorts of things. I played such games because I got them from the comic books. it is bad for children. of a life debased by comics: he delighted in depictions of bondage. I wouldn’t want him to read the horror comic books like Weird Science.54 In Seduction. an eleven-year-old Caucasian boy. I think they shouldn’t have them on the stands. he indicated only a page in Captain Marvel #101 (October 1949).55 In the case notes. That’s why I think children shouldn’t have them. playing games. . comics were “a new kind of bacillus” for which psychiatrists could provide a prophylaxis. was brought to Lafargue by his mother.396 I&C/Seducing the Innocent The Not-So-Headless Captain Marvel. In reality. could not be explained adequately in existing books on child psychiatry or guidance. it is simply Captain Marvel himself. “If I had a younger brother . Although Richard did remark about a headless man. that she is also a patient at Lafargue. Wertham proposed. Consequently. and scratched a child in the face.” and Captain Marvel is not mentioned until a later session. Richard himself supported the idea that comics promote problematic behaviors: “I think something else about story and adventure comics. whom he pronounced “an expert on love comics. it indicates that Wertham falsified statements made by both the girl and her mother. not an insect. “she reads . He is a beetle.”65 He created the illusion of dialogue and even emotion—in itself this does not warrant a high level of concern. who had been having nightmares induced by reading Blue Beetle comics. . Edward neither fantasized about the Blue Beetle nor had nightmares about him. Wertham wrote. “It is not difficult to understand that a child stimulated to fantasies about violent and sadistic adventures and about a man who changes into an insect gets frightened. The boy described the Blue Beetle as “like Superman. but he changes into Superman and afterwards he changes into a beetle again. Wertham sought to demonstrate that romance comics inspired criminal acts. In the Love Comics they sometimes steal. ‘Oh.” although the case notes also identify her as indifferent in school and a liar. “The story where somebody steals is in Crime Does Not Pay. they do it often.397 her. which depart significantly from the report in Seduction.63 To make the connection between theft and the romance comics. Boy says he does not remember anything about the nightmares. Father says he does not read that at home. According to Seduction. as readers can reasonably expect that a psychiatrist and his patient would engage in conversation. Wertham described a seven-yearold boy. Wertham writes. the exchange with Vivian that Wertham purportedly quotes actually reads. he saw it at a friend’s house. She laughed. even remarking that the boy was “anxious to explain comic books.” which. that he often cries. For instance. The case notes. Vivian. state: “Boy says he reads Blue Beetle. or that his paternal grandmother had once attempted suicide. and perhaps he remembered her laughter— but as he did in the example provided in this article’s introduction.”58 Commenting in the text.” he could not have studied it closely: the Blue Beetle is a man. Although any of these issues may have been worth investigating in relation to the boy’s behavior. .”57 In another passage from Seduction.60 Moreover. . Rather.”62 Through Vivian’s example. all the time. her mother brought Vivian to Lafargue because “she had stolen some money from a lodger. Wertham’s file for his case—at least as preserved in the archival record—demonstrates that comics were the principal focus for the therapeutic sessions. her mother purportedly stated.”61 Wertham also counseled a thirteen-year-old African American girl. Kafka for the kiddies!”59 Although Wertham described Blue Beetle as a “very violent crime comic book. that he has a scar on his cheek from a fight.’”64 The evidence from the archival material fails to support the connection. “I asked her about stealing in love comics. Edward. including Crimes by Women #2 (August 1948). Carlisle and the Crime Comics Carlisle. as the family now had a television set. Her headlights are showing. which like many of Wertham’s sessions was transcribed. holdups. In one of his sessions with Wertham. “When you see a girl and you go see her headlights. holdups. saying about Headline Comics. a fifteen-year-old boy. when there were only adolescent boys present. . and she is beaten up. Carlisle commented on the comics.” Further. Her headlights are showing half way. a gangster has a hand on the girl’s shoulder. He is working his way down to her headlights. One boy discussed the comic book.” About Crimes by Women he remarked. received counseling from Wertham for chronic truancy. no younger ones and no girls.” About a different image in the same comic. “It shows how to commit burglaries. “There is one that is sexy! Her legs are showing above her knees and her headlights are showing plenty! She has a smoking gun in her hand as though she had already shot somebody.398 I&C/Seducing the Innocent he also distorted the facts. the mother actually reported that her daughter was reading comics less avidly than she had before. Carlisle brought several comics with him.” Finally. He is going to work his way down to her headlights. with a gun in her hand smoking. that makes you hot and bothered because you see parts that you shouldn’t be shown. although he also admitted to petty thievery and gang membership. and [Crime Must Pay the] Penalty #15 (August 1950). Wertham transforms that act of stealing in romance comics from “sometimes” to “often. Carlisle noted. If she will take a beating from a man. Crimes by Women. as though she had already shot somebody—with hate and disgust for the cop. “It shows how to commit burglaries. that makes you hot and bothered! If she will take a beating from a man she will take anything from him. about Penalty he said. discussions about comic books were sometimes pretty outspoken. During the session. “Her legs are showing above her knees. Headline Comics #41 (May/June 1950). . “There’s one that looks sexy. . she will take anything from him.”66 Yet in Seduction Wertham reported Carlisle’s words so that they appear to be spoken by two boys taking part in a group therapy session: At some of the sessions of the Hookey Club.” Another boy defended Crimes by Women and showed a copy of Penalty which he said was worse. A gangster has a hand on a girl’s shoulder.”67 . When you see a girl and you see her headlights and she is beaten up. although Wertham substituted “boy” for Carlisle’s more evocative “runt. Carlisle makes an appearance as a thirteen-year-old boy who shares with Hookey Club members that when young readers saw an advertisement in comics for a kitchen knife set. In the schools where I was. They buy them and split them up.”71 In his testimony before the Senate subcommittee. the total number of children under the age of sixteen who were examined at the clinic between 1946 and 1956 was fewer than five hundred.”70 Looking beyond Children’s Files Wertham’s characterization of his own research is also troubling. the thirty-five or forty boys that Carlisle noted became twenty-five in the book. Movies help a lot. Similarly. For example.73 Of course. In Seduction he described his work as “clinical research” consisting of “large case material. at least fifteen single-spaced transcribed pages of sessions with Carlisle are part of Wertham’s research materials for Seduction. here reported to be a fourteen-year-old member of the Hookey Club. She naturally drops her arm and goes waving. he also “saw it in the movies.” The quotation is generally accurate. Wertham described the number of children he had studied as part of his comics investigation as “more than 500 . Wertham changed small details.”72 These figures are inconsistent with treatment data from the Lafargue Clinic. You should read them if you got the time [To me. “the kids immediately know what to use them for. They have straps and strap them on their legs. the boys use them. a shrimp about my size. It shows a boy going to a woman and asking her where the church is. For instance.” Most important.]. . which Wertham changed to a less definite “several. For example.399 In this example Wertham not only fabricated the context and one of the speakers but also elided and conflated comments about specific images. So you just grab the purse and run. Carlisle was an important source of information for Wertham. Wertham quoted Carlisle in part: “In the comic books it shows how to snatch purses. Carlisle.”68 In another passage. a year” for a total of “many thousands. Wertham omitted the beginning of Carlisle’s anecdote in which he says that although he has read about robbery in comics. so it is possible that some of the young people whose cases formed part of the basis for his arguments in Seduction were . .”69 He was also the source for the example of how comics inspire young people to steal women’s purses. Wertham still practiced psychiatry at Queens General Hospital and elsewhere during a portion of these years. was the source of the story about the shoeshine boys’ protection racket. Carlisle stated that the scheme lasted for four months. 78 Similarly. who was either a client or a staff member at Lafargue. “a very experienced youth counselor”—when he did not have firsthand knowledge. knock his eyes out and cut him up. it started again in the following fall. After a summer vacation. the “many thousands” of children Wertham claimed to have studied likely included a large number for whom he had only anecdotal knowledge. The club was dropped for summer vacation in June 1946. who informed him that it “started in the spring of 1944. did Wertham provide some attribution— here.”81 The psychiatrist also appropriated ideas from peers and acquaintances without offering any attribution. only 26 of a total of 133 patients age fourteen and younger were designated as “comic book cases. such as with the examples of what young boys had learned about delinquency from comics. which seems to contradict his assessment that the club was “one of the most revealing channels of information about the influence of comic books.77 The woman reported to Wertham on a conversation she had with her niece on how many comic books she purchased.”74 As early as 1948. began in May 1948 and appears to have continued irregularly through 1952. was from thirteen to sixteen. and ended with vacation in 1945. that even among the young people to whom Wertham had direct access. as he requested information about it from one of his associates at Queens. The ages were from 11 to 17.”75 A separate but similar club. writing in Seduction that he founded it “at the beginning of World War II” and that “the usual age range of members . ‘Let’s play a game. Moreover. he recounted an anecdote wherein “an eight-year-old girl said to her mother. this one was provided to Wertham secondhand: a private patient reported to him that her niece had said these things. such as the eight-year-old niece of a Mrs. In statistics for Lafargue representing a period of several years. Someone is coming to see us. however.79 Only on occasion. he inaccurately characterized the Hookey Club at Queens General Hospital. He claimed.400 I&C/Seducing the Innocent seen at these other facilities. to .”76 Instead. reading comics was seldom a significant clinical issue even by his standards. the Comic Book Readers Club. for instance. . A preliminary survey of the available transcripts of these two groups suggests that comics dominated the discussions only infrequently and seldom without some encouragement from Wertham. . I’ll stamp on him.’” As with the previous example. unfortunately. We never did revive it. Axelrod. the archival record does not adequately support this option. Wertham reported this anecdote in Seduction without acknowledging that it was gathered secondhand. however. Wertham seemed unclear about the club’s chronology and composition.80 It seems. children collect at this store. Late in the evening. They have not yet heard that the experts of the comic-book industry have found that comic books teach literacy.”83 In another example. But here their little money is taken away from them. so they don’t learn to read from them. childhood” in the report’s margin.82 Legman even suggested the example that Wertham used to frame this claim: “Suppose a candy factory sells lollypops and one batch of lollypops is bad. which his great strength makes conceivable. Not even Superman.401 “have seen children vomit over comic books. instead. his notes reveal the source to be “an Electrophysicist who has two children age 4 and 8” whom Wertham met at a friend’s house. But of them there is a large secondhand supply limited to the violent and gruesome and sexy kinds. Hilde Mosse provided him with this report almost verbatim. in addition he gives children a completely wrong idea of other basic physical laws. Wertham asserts early in Seduction. the folklorist whom comics publisher William Gaines famously—and some­ what accurately—accused of being Wertham’s ghostwriter. should be able to lift up a building while standing on the ground.” but this assertion was actually suggested to Wertham by his confidant Gershon Legman. Wertham added “incl. which is also a place for that much hushed-up phenomenon child prostitution of the youngest and lowest-paid kind. Although her report did mention prostitution. For example in a small candy store frequented almost entirely by Puerto Ricans who had moved into the district there is no other reading matter aside from comic books. as his colleague Dr. including very young ones. for example. and into the night. so of course they only look at the pictures. There are always children around. They cannot even speak English.86 It is quite possible that Wertham himself never saw or visited this store. I found a good opportunity to study what one might call the cultural role of comic books in small stores in very poor neighborhoods where immigrants or migrating minorities have moved into a section of the city. this statement was not original to Wertham. and this is their first contact with American culture.”84 Yet.85 One of the most extensive instances of Wertham’s failure to attribute the source of his material also demonstrates his willing­ ness to alter details to fit his rhetorical need. or to stop an airplane in midair while flying himself. “Superman not only defies the laws of gravity.87 . Wertham’s experience whether and to what extent his clinical findings have taken into account the other causative factors in the child’s background. even leading some of his contemporaries to raise concerns about the way in which he marshaled evidence in support of his assertions. Beck wrote: “Your treatment of contrary evidence and. who had been somewhat . found fault with Wertham’s approach in Seduction. in his letter of reply to the president of the Hawaii Congress of Parents and Teachers. For example.”90 Wertham.”88 Even the legal counsel for the United States Senate’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. in fact. . despite his general agreement with the doctor’s thesis. The line of questioning will be to determine on the basis of Dr. which are presented as current examples. . however. an esteemed psychiatric social worker who led the Special Juvenile Delinquency Project for the United States Children’s Bureau.402 I&C/Seducing the Innocent Discussion Seduction of the Innocent is filled with examples like the preceding ones in which Wertham shifted responsibility for young people’s behavioral disorders and other pathologies from the broader social. broken homes. which called Wertham as a key witness in the hearings it held on the contributions of crime comic books to juvenile delinquency. several months before Seduction was published. In a letter to Wertham from April 1954. who at the time was head of public relations for DC/ National Comics. and organic physical contexts of these children’s lives to the recreational pastime of reading comics. and misinterpretations seem more unfortunate to me since they will alienate some of the professional support which you should have. evidence. Wertham often played fast and loose with the data he gathered on comics..e. environment. inaccuracies. wrote to psychiatrist Lauretta Bender. These lapses. to get her opinion on whether the comics publisher should try to counter “some of [Wertham’s] most blatant distortions? I’ll bet some of those illustrations. a federal agency charged with investigating a variety of children’s social welfare issues. Indeed. viewed Wertham’s arguments and evidence as problematic: “He represents the extreme position among the psychiatrists and disapproves on psychiatric grounds of many crime comics which ‘the middle of the roaders’ do not believe make any significant contribution to juvenile delinquency. i. Vernon Pope. even if they might have proved useful for his efforts to regulate comics sales. or conclusions.”89 A more sympathetic party. cultural. Bertram Beck. a member of DC/National’s editorial advisory board. are well over 5 years old. . anyone who disagrees seems to me to be as unscientific as you demonstrate the defenders of the comic book have been. etc. did not shy away from alienating those persons who questioned his expertise. Gabriel Mendes. Wertham’s treatment of evidence in Seduction and his responses to questions about his comics-related research were indicative of a larger pattern of spurious and questionable behaviors. Of course. notes that “throughout his entire career in psychiatry Wertham would continuously fail to observe the codes of professionalism that marked one as a candidate for institutional leadership and prestige in the wider world. falsifications. Only since the 1950s. I am.”91 When the executive editor of Woman’s Home Companion wrote to inquire about the source of Wertham’s evidence for an anecdote in Seduction that featured the magazine. Wertham wrote. in his historical examination of the Lafargue Clinic. his response was a single. facts that can be demonstrated and proved. based on facts. teasing sentence: “I’m awfully sorry you haven’t kept your records because. and misrepresentations that pervade Wertham’s case against comics? The publisher’s note that opened Seduction of the Innocent framed the book as “the result of seven years of scientific investigation” and deemed Wertham as possessing an “expert opinion .”96 For much of its history and despite scattered efforts such as the experimental psychology of Wilhelm Wundt. Mendes also describes that in the Delaware desegregation hearings in which Wertham testified on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). the emphasis is on therapeutic intervention rather than on etiology. recalled the psychiatrist as “temperamental and imperious. with the introduction of clinical drug trials.’”94 Wertham’s irascibility was evident in the transcript of a 1955 meeting of the New York State Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication of Comics at which he repeatedly evaded requests to answer questions directly.”93 To support his assertion. as you well know. a physician is not at liberty to divulge his sources.95 So what of the distortions. Kraepelin .” 92 Here. even then. and ‘everything had to be precisely as he wanted it.’ Yes. psychiatry cannot be considered an exact science with standards of evidence that resemble other biological and medical sciences. Mendes points to archival evidence that demonstrates Wertham had problems working collegially with others at the Phipps Clinic during the 1920s and that he misrepresented his position and status to colleagues at the Munich Institute when he was employed there later that decade. “You ask me whether I am ‘an authority of the techniques of learning to read. can psychiatric evidence be more widely viewed as systematic and rigorous. . . Wertham seemed to apply doctor-patient privilege more broadly than medical ethics guidelines ever intended. Jack Greenberg. the NAACP’s attorney and the person who had sought Wertham’s help.403 critical of Seduction. in light of the source evidence now available for independent verification. Wertham’s book appears clearly to be an attempt at cultural correction rather than an honest report of scientific inquiry. As Engstrom writes. Wertham’s rhetoric advances a similar argument.99 As he wrote in Seduction: Is it possible to take a child’s mind “too seriously”? Is anything to be gained by the current cheap generalization that healthy normal children are not affected by bad things and that for unhealthy abnormal children bad things do not make much difference either. But assembling all of the pieces of information to arrive at a fuller understanding of a patient’s condition and its potential causality relied on the expertise and discretion of individual psychiatrists. was not perhaps a triumph of Fascism over true art and culture but a real threat to a healthy society. “high culture and ‘life-­ experiences’ threatened not only to countermand Darwinian laws of natural selections by shielding human beings from their environment. whether from a psychiatric or a social sciences perspective—a conclusion that has long been the source of speculation. for Kraepelin. including Wertham. They can conceal their disregard for social responsibility behind a scientific-sounding abstraction which is not even true and can proceed either to exploit children’s immaturity or permit it to be exploited by whole industries. Yet. mass culture and capitalism. but also to . because the children are bad anyhow? It is my growing conviction that this view is a wonderful excuse for adults to do whatever they choose.97 Even had Wertham provided others with access to his “evidence. Wertham was not a cultural conservative. Medical historian Eric Engstrom proposes that Kraepelin’s later stance—which Wertham would have likely encountered personally during his apprenticeship in Munich—was increasingly focused on social and cultural explanations for mental disease.404 I&C/Seducing the Innocent and others such as Meyer helped systematize psychiatric information gathering and record keeping. Wertham’s argument and even its construction seem indebted to his mentor Kraepelin.98 Although his work contains no overt references to Frankfurt School theorists such as Theodor Adorno. helped establish the physiological dimensions of the field. while other psychiatrists.” it was still in many ways his professional prerogative to tell the stories he wanted to tell. but he did equate comics and comics reading with a broader social and cultural failure.100 Although its possible relationship to the Frankfurt School bears exploration. as embodied by the coarse world of comics. For him. has cast a long shadow over the place of comics in society. not the pamphlet form familiar to Wertham. books are enduring propaganda. Libraries and schools throughout the United States have turned to comics as sources of shared reading for classroom assignments and as inducements for reluctant readers.’”101 In Wertham’s view. slowly though steadily. from the margins toward the center of humanities and social sciences research. because even if elements of his reporting and interpretation of it are specious. Wertham’s argument about comics in Seduction of the Innocent. Yet. violent. many persons. Meyer’s influence is not wholly absent in Wertham’s logic. in the past few decades scholarship on comics has shifted. In fact. collating the reports of a network of observers to advance his rhetoric. Kraepelin viewed the effects of culture as contributing to a deterioration. Still. This use of information could never have satisfied his own critical standards of clinical observation. in academe. Comics characters appear on promotional posters for reading that are distributed by the American Library Association. too. Mainstream book publishers such as Scholastic and Penguin distribute comics. oversexed trash. it is often ghettoized in specially created journals and conferences rather . comic books threatened both social and cultural integrity. influenced—often unknowingly—by Wertham’s popular rhetoric. Consequently. as the epigraph for this article proposes. grounded inconsistently in frequently spurious clinical evidence.”102 Again. Teachers and librarians participate in comics conventions. Wertham’s clinical evidence did confirm that young people read comics. Additionally. Many of Hollywood’s most lucrative film properties are based on superhero comics that the young people in Wertham’s Hookey Club might have read. Engstrom notes that Kraepelin marshaled a vast system of informants to provide him with psychiatric material for his research. and comics vendors and programming can be found at library and educational conferences. That shadow is visible. albeit in long form. Programs and tools encourage young people to create their own comics. and “he appears to have few qualms about drawing on the observations of officials not trained in psychiatry. indeed to the degeneration of the individual and the ‘race. much has changed in the cultural landscape. Meyer’s admonition that “if the facts [of the case] do not constitute a diagnosis we must nevertheless act on the facts” could be seen as a spur to Wertham’s desire to incite action on comics. True.405 impinge directly on the development of germ cells. continue to view comics as childish. Wertham— perhaps quite unconsciously—adopted the practices of his mentor.103 In the more than half a century that has elapsed since the publication of Seduction of the Innocent. In particular and despite its one-time place at the head of children’s print culture. how can publishers and readers ensure the authenticity and reliability of that information? Similarly. and essayist John D’Agata.108 Even so. memoirist James Frey. and reported accurately by adult mediators? In contemporary culture. “Children’s literature scholars have not acknowledged comics as a foundational element of [children’s culture] . Publishing. it has been little represented in areas such as book history. and the medium’s social milieu is regrettable. In Carl Kaestle et al. .106 Children’s literature scholars tend to distance themselves from comics as well. bear witness to that assertion. and in both instances the reference is to newspaper comic strips. and children’s literature.104 In John Hench’s recent and admirable Books as Weapons: Propaganda. how can we be certain that children’s voices are recorded.’s volume Literacy in the United States: Readers and Reading since 1880. their readers. was he bound to the same standards of evidence as if he were writing for an academic one? Likewise. as Wertham’s book was intended for a popular audience. For instance. the deceptions Wertham perpetrated raise questions in a number of areas. and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II. to what degree can we accept evidence presented for any rhetorical purpose? Although adults read comics too. and have been slow to put aside assumptions about the Otherness of comics vis-à-vis the literary tradition. who is the subject of a recent book on fact checking. print culture.105 In Anne Lundin and Wayne Wiegand’s edited volume Defining Print Culture for Youth: The Cultural Work of Children’s Literature. As children’s literature professor Charles Hatfield noted a few years ago. not comic books. .406 I&C/Seducing the Innocent than included in more catholic venues. were his distortions acceptable because he seemed to have the welfare of children in mind? In instances where information from sensitive—and hence not easily revealed—resources such as medical intake records and treatment reports is used to bolster arguments. comics are excluded from his discussion of the propaganda efforts made by the Office of War Information (OWI) even though the OWI extensively studied and experimented with comics in strip and book format early in the war. only a single essay even mentions comics. comics are glossed twice. filtered. for many young people growing up in the . For historians of the role of information in society and culture. and then only in the context of individuals’ reading histories.”107 That scholars continue to neglect or marginalize the historical realities of comics. it is arguably more difficult to perpetrate fraud or even practice creative deception in writing. the cases of former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair. from which this article’s epigraph is drawn. April 26. Wertham Papers. more than a pastime. Wertham wrote. Manuscripts Division. Publishing. Marie Loizeaux. 3. 1967). 2. April 26. Comic books and comics reading were more than a marketing phenomenon. April 25. “Nothing to Laugh At.” NEA Journal 43 (1954): 473. folder 3. At the same time. I want to be clear. though it is difficult to document that passion meaningfully. Fredric Wertham Papers. “[Advertisement: Seduction of the Innocent]. according to Alice Hackett’s 70 Years of Best Sellers (New York: Bowker. box 124. Seduction of the Innocent (New York: Rinehart & Company. the book would have needed to sell more than seventy-three thousand copies in cloth and paper combined to be ranked among the top ten nonfiction bestsellers for 1954. I find myself conflicted about Wertham. C. New York Times. however. A Cycle of Outrage: America’s Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s [New York: Oxford . That he cloaked his rhetoric in the guise of science and professional authority makes his claims more egregious. 1954). NY: Cornell University Press. he gave readers a clear indication that rhetoric must trump evidence: commenting about a colleague. Sales might indeed have been higher: Wertham claimed that Seduction had been optioned by the Book of the Month Club (BOMC) as one of its summer selections but that the offer was rescinded because of pressure by comics publishers (see James Gilbert. BR20. Clifton Fadiman to Fredric Wertham. and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II (Ithaca. 70. Quoted in John B. more than cultural junk. comics were a primary means for them to engage with the world around them.” Wilson Library Bulletin 28 (1954): 884. 1954.” New York Times. Margaret Martignoni to Dudley Frasier. Wright Mills. 2011).” New York Times. 1954. Library of Congress. 23). Hench. Library Quarterly 25 (1955): 129–30. Bruno Bettelheim. folder 3. 23. 1954. DC (hereafter Wertham Papers). Washington. Books as Weapons: Propaganda. Fredric Wertham. In fact.. 1954. March 10. 1954. “Talking Shop. box 124. “Seduction of the Innocent. the quote from Sterling North comes from advertisements for Seduction of the Innocent taken out by Rinehart and Company (see. box 123. In comparison.”109 Notes 1. more than a pathology. folder 7. Joy Elmer Morgan. Rene de Chocor to Fredric Wertham. August 17. Fredric Wertham wanted to curtail that engagement in a significant manner. that my intent in highlighting Wertham’s falsifications is not to add my name to the list of the psychiatrist’s detractors. 1954. August 5. advertisement for Seduction of the Innocent. Wertham Papers. e. “Neutrality— especially when hidden under the cloak of scientific objectivity—that is the devil’s ally. I discovered that he had a genuine passion for children and their welfare. Having examined thousands of pages of documents that he created and collected.g.407 United States during the mid-twentieth century. review of Seduction of the Innocent. D. For scholarly perspectives. “Comic Books Are Going to School.” Slate.   5. W. folder 3. 2010).. 15.” Progressive Education 24 (1947): 212. 1998). http://www . Pauline (they divorced in 1949). Wertham acknowledged this comparison in Seduction. which specialized in comics featuring funny animals and properties licensed from other media (e. “Of Nightingales and Supermen: How Youth Services Librarians Responded to Comics between the Years 1938 and 1955. 2008. http://www. Diagram for Delinquents. Seduction of the Innocent. There is also a documentary film.lostsoti.” Elementary English Review 21 (1944): 283–85. Not all publishers sought the CMAA’s approval: Dell Comics. 2007. Armstrong. focusing on Wertham. stating in part. “How Good Are the Comic Books?. David Hajdu. Wertham Papers). Specific data about the changes in new titles and related publication details can be found in Jean-Paul Gabilliet. Furthermore.   9.slate.408 I&C/Seducing the Innocent University Press. folder 15. 2005).” Illinois Libraries 30 (1948): 168–74. “The Caped Crusader: Fredric Wertham and the Campaign against Comic Books. April 4. box 124. Amy Kiste Nyberg. scheduled for a 2012 release (the Website http://www. primarily because of CSAA staff member Josette Frank’s advisory work with DC/ National Comics. Gene Autry).kickstarter . 1949) provides insights into then-­ contemporary views of childhood behavior disorders. Wallace Wallin’s Personality Maladjustments and Mental Hygiene (New York: McGraw-Hill.g. trans.  6. Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code ( Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 2011. then a member of BOMC’s editorial board. Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen ( Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. as Nyberg argues in Seal of Approval. Clara Louise Kessler. Jeet Heer. The TenCent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (New York: Macmillan. I know the book will do a lot of good” (August 17. “Sorry the thing worked out the way it did. sent Wertham a postcard in August 1954.   8. historian James Gilbert interviewed Wertham. David T. Wertham had a great dislike for the CSAA. Bradford Wright. Prior to Wertham’s death. A Cycle of Outrage .” PhD diss. W. MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. For popular perspectives. Fadiman’s first wife. In addition. Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture ( Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 1956. Wertham Papers). 2009). “Leisure Time Interest Questionnaire.html. box 52. See Gilbert. 10. the industry looked quite different in subsequent years.com/articles/arts/ culturebox/2008/04/the_caped_crusader.. Clifton Fadiman. J. was editor of the Child Study Association of America’s (CSAA) journal. other factors such as distribution problems contributed to the evisceration of the comics industry. Whatever the exact proportions in the constellation of factors that the comics industry faced in 1954. Donald Duck.” a diagnosis that did not exist for adults (“Statistics—Lafargue Clinic 1946 to 1956. Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books. Bart Beaty. see Carol L.” March 6. Sones. 1986]). consider. 300.org.   4.   7. was a notable exception. Statistics for Wertham’s Lafargue Clinic indicate that more than 70 percent of the children treated there had “behavior disorders. . Interestingly. Indiana University. consider Gilbert. 1954.com/projects/sequart/diagram-for-delinquents has additional information). Tilley. Stephen O’Day. 2001). Cf. A Cycle of Outrage. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (Baltimore. for example. who also granted Gilbert access to a portion of his personal papers. 26. Wolf and Marjorie Fiske. “Farley Leads the List. The papers from this symposium were published later that year in the American Journal of Psychotherapy 2 (1948).” in Communications Research 1948–1949. Robert D. 19.” March 2.” Library Journal 67 (1942): 204. 1949). Of Nightingales . The quote is from Florence Brumbaugh.” Publishers Weekly 165 (1954): 1906. “The Children Talk about Comics. box 116. “Horror in the Nursery. 22. Ian Gordon. 16. 26. Leigh. 1948. American Broadcasting Company.com/yearlycomicssales. Field. “Libraries.” accessed January 13.comichron. Ruth Strang. SJK [Stanley J.archive. 18. 1975). folder 239. 1948. Field. and Ron Goulart. 30.  Katherine M. Judith Crist. 17.” Elementary English Review 20 (1943): 330. The Comics Chronicles. box 24. “They Like It Rough: In Defense of Comics.” Wilson Library Bulletin 21 (1946): 171–72.” Chicago Daily News.409 11. May 8. DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. to Arms!. Child Study Association of America records. and Nyberg. Seal of Approval. 14. 1950). Childs to Josette Frank. 20. 13. Kunitz]. 24.” Elementary School Journal 43 (1943): 336. The Public Library in the United States: The General Report of the Public Library Inquiry (New York: Columbia University Press. NY: Arlington House. Harold C. “Magazine Best Sellers. Wertham. “Are the Comic Books a Problem?” 28. 12. 1998). The Ten-Cent Plague . 1940. Margaret Frost. 10. editorial in Elementary English Review 18 (1941): 160. 25. The Adventurous Decade (New Rochelle. ed. http://www.” New Jersey Library Association Bulletin 13 (1945): 75–83. Social Welfare History Archives. 21. Fredric Wertham to Judith Crist.” Wilson Library Bulletin 15 (1941): 671. for example. Stanton (New York: Harper & Brothers. “The Hundred Million Dollar Market for Comics.org/details/ WhatsWrongWithTheComics. 1890–1945 (Washington. see. 29. 23. Certain. Lazarsfeld and Frank N. 1942. Gweneira Williams and Jane Wilson. 56. 27. Seduction. 2012. For additional information about concerns about comics during this time period. Comic Strips and Consumer Culture. Carl H.” Collier’s Magazine 121 (1948): 22– 23.” Publishers Weekly 165 (1954): 898. 24. University of Minnesota. For additional information about the early comics industry. Harry E.  Julia L.  Sterling North. folder 6. for example.” Elementary English Review (1939): 226. An audio excerpt of Brown’s comments—complete with audience laughter—can be heard at http://www. 15. Tilley. Paul F. “Are the Comic Books a Problem?.html. August 17. “Children’s Opinion of Comic Books. “Why Children Read the Comics. “A National Disgrace (and a Challenge to American Parents). A staff correspondent for the Ladies’ Home Journal stated that the magazine had been “deluged with so many additional orders” for reprints of Wertham’s . “Comic Book Sales by Year. Wertham Papers. February 5. Melinat. “Town Hall: What’s Wrong with the Comics?. 95–97. Hajdu. “Children’s Choices of Reading Materials. 31. see.  Wertham discussed his professional orientation in the opening chapter of Seduction. 236. Wertham Papers. but these ideas permeate his writing. 45. 32. 36. box 123. 43. Dr. 42. February 8. Ralph P. Truitt. (New York: Commonwealth Fund Division of Publications. Ibid. Wertham Papers). 35. Seduction.. Wertham Papers. Fredric Wertham. folder 12. see Gabriel N. Truitt et al. Wertham. 1940–1960. race. “Community Child Guidance Clinics. 48. and the Fight for Mental Health Care in Harlem. Brown University... 2010. Eric J.” box 52. Wertham sometimes uses patients’ first names. Ibid. [Note from Dr. Butler to Fredric Wertham.. Wertham Papers. occasionally. 44. “Comic Book Readers Club—Session No.  Ralph P.” PhD diss.” from Wonder Woman #49 (September/October 1951). Ibid. folder 11. Although these records are publicly accessible. 43.” 39. 40. and. based on an actual count of cases offers a different picture: the clinic treated 133 children under the age of fourteen. In cases involving sexual abuse. 1928). 45. “Statistics—Lafargue Clinic. .” in The Child Guidance Clinic and the Community. 14. folder 7. 3/23/50]. For additional information on his approach to social psychiatry and mental hygiene. ellipses in original. 50. ed.” 46. “A Deeper Science: Richard Wright. Johannes Coenraad Pols. 38. In Seduction. Engstrom.  The book Paul brought was Bag O. I have omitted patients’ surnames and provided only partial file dates—in instances of an individual’s records rather than group transcripts—in both the text and the citations to protect their and their families’ privacy. “Managing the Mind: The Culture of American Mental Hygiene.” History of Psychiatry 18 (2007): 389–404. Wertham. Seduction. NY.” box 51. 1910–1950. Wertham. 45—June 2. folder 4. 37. Nuts Presents Uncle Bim and Millie. folder 15. which appropriated characters from the well-known Gumps comic strips. Mendes. 347. “‘On the Question of Degeneration’ by Emil Kraepelin (1908).” PhD diss. 34. Box 111.” box 121. 20. The story Wertham described is “Little Miss Wonder Woman. Wertham Papers.” box 111. 33. “Case—1/18/XX. Mosse. 1954.” This report suggests that a total of 455 children under the age of sixteen were treated at the clinic during the ten-year period documented. An undated report. I have omitted all names. 49. 192. folder 1. Depression was diagnosed in more than one-third of these cases and organic brain disease in more than 10 percent of them. including 13 in 1950. Seduction. 41. Wertham. folder 1. 1997. “Comic Book Readers Club—Session No. probably from 1950.  “Conference—Tuesday. gender. See “Children under 14—total cases—133 (13 of these in 1950). 184. “Statistics—Lafargue Clinic. 1947. March 25. 47. “Norma E. 5–6. Seduction. but often patients are described only in terms of age. Wertham Papers.” box 109. Wertham Papers. University of Pennsylvania. 1948.410 I&C/Seducing the Innocent 1953 preview of Seduction of the Innocent that production and distribution costs had become prohibitive (Holly W. Wertham Papers. 118. 39. #A85135. “Carlisle C. “Statistics—Lafargue Clinic.” box 111. Seduction. Age 15. Wertham. folder 1. “Dorothy P.” box 109. Age 13. Wertham Papers. Wertham.—6/13/50. Ibid. Wertham Papers.411 51. Wertham. Seduction. 178.” box 109. Seduction. folder 3. The actual quote is. Wertham. Ibid. 40. 77. 72... 67. Wertham. 42–43. 76.” box 110. Wertham Papers). 78..  Senate Committee on the Judiciary. folder 12.. folder 1. 59. 157–58. Age 15. Wertham Papers. folder 15.” 66.  Ibid.” box 111. 58. folder 3. “Richard B. 171. 1948. Seduction. Seduction. 1952 (see Fredric Wertham to Queens General Hospital. 41. “Carlisle C. Age 15. .  “Edward P.” box 111. Ibid. “Carlisle C. 87–88. Seduction.  “Richard B. Note (Mrs. Wertham. 55. Seduction. Wertham. 68. #A85135. box 109. box 121. Wertham.” box 109. #A85135. 87. Wertham Papers. Ibid. 69. 1952. Seduction. Ibid. 70.—Age 11—#M3307. Seduction. Wertham Papers. as Wertham resigned his position at Queens effective August 1. 5/22/XX.. folder 12.” 57. 62. folder 2. folders 2 and 4 of Wertham’s papers do not appear to represent the complete record of meetings. 20. Wertham. #A85135. “Dorothy P. The club likely ended in 1952. Wertham. 2nd sess. Wertham Papers. “Kids immediately know that they can put them in the shoulder holster or they have straps and strap them on their legs” (“Carlisle C. 42. December 1950). June 30. 73.. Heise to Fredric Wertham. A. 64. 4/5/XX. Wertham Papers. 63. 71. 60. 4/24/XX. folder 3. 1954. folder 12.. 40.—Age 71/2—#M2413—10/9/XX. Seduction.” 74.” box 110. Of those included in these folders. Age 15. Seduction.” box 111. July 19. 54. folder 12.. 5/12/XX. “Vivian J. Wertham. folder 1. Wertham.—Age 11. “Vivian J. 106. Seduction. approximately one-third of them contain discussions of comics. “Note—10/50. 68. 68. Wertham. 79. Wertham Papers. Wertham. Seduction. 61. Seduction. Axelrod at Lafargue. Age 13—#M2884—2/5/XX. 56. Wertham Papers. 53.—6/13/XX. Based on the numbering at the top of many of the transcripts.. Wertham Papers). box 35. 215. 83rd Cong. 93.. the group transcripts available in box 121. 75. 65.. folder 3. 52. Juvenile Delinquency (Comic Books): Hearings before the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency of the United States.” box 110. Wertham Papers. see “Are You a Red Dupe?. 10E3/16/11/2. box 125. for more about historical and contemporary concerns about Wertham’s methods.” Records of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.” Records of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Note.  box 171. box 3. 34. 93. DC. folder 1. 1948. 1949) and Jailbait Street (Monarch.  Fredric Wertham to Helen C. For information on Gaines. 1954..p. Wertham.” 61. “Transcript of Proceedings 4 February 1955. 90. folder 7. See Beaty. Wertham Papers. Wertham Papers.. 88. July 5. folder 10. it may be that Wertham intended to rely on Legman’s ideas to an even greater degree. Washington. folder 6. Wertham Papers. n. National Archives. Evidence in Mental Health Care (London: Brunner-Routledge. box 123. 89.” 82. 1954. box 109. “Among other things they objected to quite a number of things that I had quoted from you. “Background statement—Dr. 1954.” box 112. Ibid. evidence. In a letter to Legman in which he recounted his experiences with Rinehart & Company’s attorneys. 1954. Seduction. Wertham Papers. April 4.d. Fredric Wertham” (n.  folder 3. 97. 169–71. “Report from Dr. folder 14. Wertham Papers. Wertham Papers. n. Seduction. 1949. 81. 86. As I continue to do work in . 1954. Interestingly. Mendes. Of particular use in understanding the nature of psychiatric evidence is Stefan Priebe and Mike Slade’s edited volume of essays. folder 3.. 92. Note (source Legman). articles. See Hal Ellson to Wertham. but ca. Wertham Papers. 2002). New York State Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication of Comic Books. A handwritten note on the report indicates that the store was on the south side of 21st Street between Second and Third Avenues. this counselor was Hal Ellson. Seduction. n. The last half of chapter 4 contains most of this discussion. 83. Vernon Pope to Lauretta Bender. Fredric Wertham to J. 10E3/16/11/2.. Ralph Brown.412 I&C/Seducing the Innocent 80. 84. Wertham. Seduction. books. Fredric Wertham. 261–62. box 113. Seduction.  Note (source Legman). 96. 1954). Wertham Papers).   98. box 113. which was published by Bill Gaines and EC (Entertaining Comics). Wertham. Brooklyn College Library Archives and Special Collections. 94. so all that had to go” (Fredric Wertham to Gershon Legman. October 23. Publisher’s note in Wertham. DC.. Otis. “Children under 14—total cases. “A Deeper Science. 95. Wertham. presumably in Manhattan. who went on to write juvenile delinquency stories such as Duke (Scribner.d. box 125. August 20. box 115. folder “Comics material—pamphlets. Mosse.” in Haunt of Fear #24 ( July/August 1954). 180. National Archives. 306. April 16. 1959). Lauretta Bender Papers. and conclusions. folder 12. 87. 91. Although I have been unable to do a close comparison of extant drafts of Seduction. February 7. 85. December 29. Bertram Beck to Fredric Wertham. Wertham wrote.  Wertham Papers. Washington.” box 211. etc. folder 3.d. folder “Witness Lists and Backgrounds. folder 1.   Anne H. and Memories of Home. Beaty clearly establishes that Wertham was not a cultural conservative. Jean Crawford. “Fighting the Cartoon War: Information Strategies in World War II. Wertham Papers. Hatfield. Carl F.” Journal of American Culture 7 (1984): 113–17. “What Would Adolf Meyer Have Thought of the Neo-Kraepelin Approach. 395. Norton. 169–95. 351. Whatever the extent of Crawford’s role. Lundin and Wayne A. Wiegand. eds. NC: McFarland. 2010).. the recent volume of essays titled Everyday Information: The Evolution of Information Seeking in America. CT: Yale University Press. “Comic Art. Seduction. MD: Johns Hopkins Press. 100. 106. ed. Beaty. Seduction. Research. 105. Wertham. 109. and William Vace Trollinger Jr. For examples of Crawford’s suggestions. Radhika Parameswaran. and Cataloging.’” 393. W. includes a variety of LS. 1951). Ibid. “‘On the Question. box 116.” Psychiatric Bulletin 14 (1990): 472–74. 48. Adolf Meyer. 2003). . Wertham still had authorial and professional agency to correct. was responsible for suggesting at least some of the deletions in Wertham’s original reporting of quotations from patient case files. Weiner ( Jeffersonville. CO: Libraries Unlimited. I have found some evidence that Wertham’s editorial contact at Rinehart & Company. Beth Nettels. Steve Barkin. “Active Readership: The Case of the American Comics Reader. Double. Katherine Tinsley. Lawrence C. 108. “Reading Nancy Drew in Urban India: Gender. Collected Papers (Volume II) (Baltimore. and William Aspray. contains a chapter on comics. Wertham. 101. as quoted in D. 102. 103. and Publishing).  Charles A. B.413 Wertham’s manuscript collection. Robert G. and it appears that he chose not to do so. 2011). Books as Weapons (Hench’s book was awarded the 2011 DeLong Book Prize from the Society for the History of Authorship. Postcolonialism.” by George Royer. History. Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers.. The corollary disciplines of library science (LS) and information science (IS) have been a little more accepting of comics. Defining Print Culture for Youth: The Cultural Work of Children’s Literature (Englewood. Children’s Literature. Fredric Wertham. Literacy in the United States: Readers and Reading since 1880 (New Haven. For example.and IS-related work. 1991). Hench. John D’Agata and Jim Fingal. and the New Comics Studies. William Aspray and Barbara M. The Lifespan of a Fact (New York: W. 104. 146. Steman. MA: MIT Press. or otherwise remediate these editorial suggestions. see Manuscript Copy C. 107. ed. Reading. Helen Damon-Moore. Kaestle. revise. Another recent volume.   99. Hayes (Cambridge... 2012).” Lion and the Unicorn 30 (2006): 378. Engstrom.” in ibid.