Set Description:
My interest in the “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) stems from the role it played in killing the crime and horror comics of the early 1950s that in turn set the stage for the rebirth of superhero comics and the start of the silver age. The SOTI was a book published by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham in 1954. Wertham believed that comic books were a key cause of juvenile delinquency and used the SOTI to provide examples of how comic books contributed to behavioral problems in children. The book was part of a growing movement in the 1950s to censor comics. After the SOTI was published, the censorship movement culminated with Congressional hearings and the comic industry voluntarily creating the Comics Code Authority (CCA) in 1954. The CCA’s censorship essentially killed the crime, terror and horror comics that were prevalent in the early 1950s. In the wake of these changes, the comics industry responded by reintroducing superhero comics with a new twist. Instead of the authoritative fatherly figures of the 1940s, silver age superheroes were flawed and self-doubting. Marvel Comics in particular capitalized on this new genre of superhero by publishing highly imaginative stories with strong characterization.
Over the years, many comic books referenced in the SOTI have been identified but not noted in the Overstreet guide. The following is a summary of known SOTI books not recognized in the Overstreet guide:
1) Batman #53: SOTI reference text page 236 (Batman's charming breakfast scene from the story "A Hairpin, a Hoe, a Hacksaw, a Hole in the Ground!").
2) Batman #64: SOTI reference text page 191 (Bruce and Dick go out in dinner clothes dressed exactly alike).
3) Batman #67: SOTI reference text page 191 (Robin held captive with quote "Robin gets killed").
4) Captain Marvel Adventures #101: SOTI reference text page 88 (Captain Marvel pictures without his head).
5) Crime and Punishment #2: SOTI possible reference text page 161 (Cover with man stealing money box from blind man running newsstand).
6) Crime and Punishment #12: SOTI reference text pages 21-22 (Cover identification points as described by Wertham match this issue).
7) Crime and Punishment #16: SOTI reference text pages 98-99 (Police Captain "Don't let reformers kid you!" piece).
8) Crime Does Not Pay #76: SOTI reference text pages 98-99 (Police Captain "Don't let reformers kid you!" piece).
9) Diary Loves #31: SOTI reference text page 40 (stealing a very expensive gown - comes from the story "The Highest Bidder").
10) Doll Man #38: SOTI reference text page 388 ("His throat is as white...:" quote comes from the story "House of Vampires").
11) Famous Crimes #1: SOTI reference text page 234 ("fat slut" quote comes from "Clara Peete, the Beautiful Beast" story).
12) Famous Crimes #19: SOTI reference text page 96 (Lee Gillon comes from "The Whole Town Lied" story and "board full of spikes" comes from "Dutch Schultz..." story).
13) For a Night of Love #nn: SOTI reference text page 185 ("...mocking faithfulness" quote comes from inside cover).
14) Gang Busters #3: SOTI reference illustration #27 ("comic-book map for crime" panel illustration comes from Gang Busters #3).
15) Justice Comics #21: SOTI reference text page 160 ("But we better hurry or we'll be late for school...").
16) Kid Colt Outlaw #3: SOTI reference text page 112 ("Gouger" reference comes from "Gold and Guns at Roaring Gulch" story).
17) Mr. Risk #2: SOTI reference text page 144 (Misspelled comic book story "Psycopathic Lady").
18) Nyoka The Jungle Girl #26: SOTI reference text page 32 ("Satanic Dr. Zanzere" comes from "Flying Tiger" story).
19) Phantom Lady #16: SOTI reference text page 234 ("fat slut" quote comes from "Clara Peete, the Beautiful Beast" story).
20) Real Clue Crime Stories V3(#3) [#27]: SOTI reference text pages 23-24 (terrorized farmer description and quotes comes from "Tiger the True Story of Buck Neary" story).
21) Real Life Comics #58: SOTI reference text page 310 (Olympic games story with ladies thrown over the cliff comes from "Olympic Oddities" story).
22) Tex Morgan #9: SOTI reference text page 30 (Wertham provides western comic book cover identification keys that pin the book down to Tex Morgan #9).
23) T-Man #4: SOTI reference text page 284 (story description and quote "Boy, that's the sweetest sound on earth" comes from the story "T-Man and the Panama Peril!").
24) True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated #11: SOTI reference text pages 185-186 (Love comic book story titles and quotes).
25) Untamed Love #5: SOTI reference text page 40 and 42 (page 40 seducing a girl comes from "A Streak of Badness", page 42 stealing a dress and getting caught comes from "The Heart's Hunger")
26) Wanted Comics #29: SOTI reference text page 28 (Multiple quoted examples come from stories contained in Wanted Comics #29)
27) Western Outlaws and Sheriffs #63: SOTI reference text pages 159-160 (Western comic foul fighting story quotes and "Mossman" comes from "The Rio Killer" story).
28) Witches Tales #20: SOTI reference text page 389 (story quote "one man kills a wife with a poker" comes from the story "Shock!").
29) Wonder Woman #30: SOTI reference text page 193 (Wonder Woman princess character repeatedly referencing to "wicked men" comes from the story "The Secrets of the Limestone Caves")
30) Wonder Woman #44: SOTI reference text page 193 (Holiday girl quote "Honest, I'd give my last piece of candy in the world..." comes from the story "Chapter III: The Final Battle of the Sargasso Sea")
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
A-1 Comics (Guns of Fact and Fiction) 13 |
| Item: |
Guns of Fact and Fiction 13 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1053060001
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Owner Comments
A-1 Comics Guns of Fact and Fiction #13 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 19.
Wertham describes the alluring nature of the titles of comics and provides several examples on page 19 and uses the subtitle “The West Thunders with the Roar of GUNS” from the cover of A-1 Comics Guns of Fact and Fiction #13 as one of his examples.
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| Slot: |
All-Famous Crime 9 |
| Item: |
All-Famous Crime 9 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1156987010
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Owner Comments
All-Famous Crime #9 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 181 and as illustration #32.
In this section of the SOTI, Wertham describes how comic books interfere with the normal sexual development of children and provides the following example “There are individuals who suffer from the truly dangerous perversion of wishing to hurt or kill couples making love to each other. The comic-book industry obliges by describing such cases in detail. So, the child who never had such an idea before will learn from it; the one who had any idea at all, however faintly, will have it nourished and given form. One picture shows a couple in an automobile, both the young man and the girl with blood streaming all over their faces from bullet holes in their heads. In the story the murderer was never caught.”
In addition to the passage on page 181, Wertham included the panel with the bullet ridden couple in the illustration section of the SOTI. The panel is illustration #32 with the caption “The wish to hurt or kill couples in Lovers’ Lanes in a not uncommon perversion.” The lover’s lane panel comes from a story “The Case of the Crimson Killer” contained in All-Famous Crime #9 (a reprint of a story originally published in Law Against Crime #3). I have included a scan of the page from this story that contains the panel with the murdered couple. Although if you read the story closely, the red marks on their foreheads are meant to represent circles drawn with lipstick and not necessarily bullet holes. Throughout the story, the detectives trying to solve the crime refer to the murderer as the red circle lipstick killer.
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| Slot: |
All-Top 14 |
| Item: |
All Top Comics 14 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0147132001
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Owner Comments
All Top #14 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s the “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) as illustration #2.
Illustration #2 is taken from the Rulah Jungle Goddess story “The White Death” contained in All Top #14. The panel shows two men strung up by their wrists and Wertham captioned the illustration “Corpses of colored people strung up by their wrists”. In an ironic twist, the story entails the mysterious killing power of an albino man who kills his victims through a touch that turns them white. As seen in the attached story page, the full panel has the villainess describing the corpses as “white”. Wertham cropped out this part of the panel for his use in the SOTI.
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| Slot: |
Authentic Police Cases 3 |
| Item: |
Authentic Police Cases 3 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0174245001
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Owner Comments
Authentic Police Cases #3 is referenced in the “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) as illustration #9 and also referenced in the text on pages 161 and 181. Illustration #9 depicts a panel from Authentic Police Cases #3 where two thugs are draining the blood from a woman as a means to keep her quiet. The SOTI caption under this illustration is “Outside the forbidden pages of de Sade, you find draining a girl’s blood only in children’s comics”. The blood draining panel and story is a reprint of a story originally told in Red Seal Comics #16. Overstreet only lists illustration #9 as a SOTI reference and does not list the text references on pages 161 and 181. However, from the text reference on page 161, it’s clear that Wertham is referring to Authentic Police Cases #3. On page 161 he is discussing how children receive crime tips from various comic books. He references a comic book example that contains a page entitled “Lessons for Larceny”, with a subtitle, “Watch for Trouble when a Swindle Backfires”. This clearly references a page in Authentic Police Cases #3. Although Wertham slightly misquoted the comic as the actual title of the page is “Lesson from Larceny”. While Authentic Police Cases #3 reprints stories from Red Seal #16, the “Lessons from Larceny” page was not contained in Red Seal #16 so it’s likely that Wertham used Authentic Police Cases #3 for his SOTI work and not Red Seal Comics #16. However, both books are listed as a SOTI book by Overstreet. The web site www.lostsoti.org is a great resource for more details on this SOTI reference and many others. The text on page 181 refers to the blood drawing illustration where Wertham describes this panel as a “morbid fantasy”.I have included a cover scan and a scan of the blood drawing panel for reference.
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| Slot: |
Batman 53 |
| Item: |
Batman 53 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3918762022
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Owner Comments
Batman #53 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 236.
On page 236, Wertham describes a comic as follows “In vain does one look in comic books for seeds of constructive work or of ordinary home life. I have never seen in any of the crime, superman, adventure, space, horror, etc., comic books a normal family sitting down at a meal. I have seen an elaborate, charming breakfast scene, but it was between Batman and his boy, complete with checkered tablecloth, milk, cereal, fruit juice, dressing-gown and newspaper”.
The Batman breakfast scene comes from a panel in the story "A Hairpin, a Hoe, a Hacksaw, a Hole in the Ground!" contained in Batman 53.
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| Slot: |
Batman 64 |
| Item: |
Batman 64 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1012345005
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Owner Comments
Batman #64 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) on page 191.Chapter VII of the SOTI examines the effect comics book have on the “psycho-sexual development of children”. As a part of his analysis, Wertham provides several examples of the homoerotic nature of Batman and Robin stories and one such example is contained in Batman #64 – “In these stories there are practically no decent, attractive, successful women. A typical female character is the Catwoman, who is vicious and uses a whip. The atmosphere is homosexual and anti-feminine. If the girl is good-looking she is undoubtedly the villainess. If she is after Bruce Wayne, she will have no chance against Dick. For instance, Bruce and Dick go out one evening in dinner clothes, dressed exactly alike. The attractive girl makes up to Bruce while in successive pictures young Dick looks on smiling, sure of Bruce.” As shown by the attached scan, Batman #64 contains the story that Wertham describes on page 191 of the SOTI.
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| Slot: |
Batman 67 |
| Item: |
Batman 67 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0193325003
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Owner Comments
While not yet recognized by Overstreet, Batman #67 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on pages 190-191 (refer to the website www.lostsoti.org for more details on this SOTI reference).
Chapter VII of the SOTI examines the effect comics book have on the “psycho-sexual development of children”. As a part of his analysis, Wertham provides several examples of the homoerotic nature of Batman and Robin stories and provides the following description of one such story “Like the girls in other stories, Robin is sometimes held captive by the villains and Batman has to give in or ‘Robin gets killed.’” Batman #67, as shown in the attached scan, contains the exact story and quote that Wertham describes on pages 190-191 of the SOTI.
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| Slot: |
Beware 12 |
| Item: |
Beware 12 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1076469001
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Owner Comments
Beware #12, published by Youthful Magazines, is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 388. On page 388, Wertham itemizes comic book storylines and images that he finds troubling and describes one such story as follows “In one comic book ‘the top horror artist in the entire comic book field’ is confined in the ‘state home for mental defectives’ where his little son goes to visit him. Dialogue at the gate between the guard and the boy: Guard: ‘Yes, I know it’s visiting day. But he’s still too violent.’ Little boy: ‘I-I-just wanted to tell him he’s won the ‘ghoul’ for the most horrible comic book script of the year.’”This example is taken from the story “My Daddy Should Have Listened” contained in Beware #12. The story tells the tale of a comic book artist and writer, aptly writing for Beware Comics, that runs out of ideas and turns to his son and his new found playmate “Willie” for storylines. He gets more than he bargains for when he pays a visit to Willie and finds that his monsters are not imaginative but real! I have included a scan of the page that contains the dialogue described by Wertham.
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| Slot: |
Beyond 27 |
| Item: |
Beyond 27 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0249159002
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Owner Comments
The Beyond #27 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 111.
Wertham offers a story from The Beyond #27 as an example of extreme violence in the comics of the 1950s. He describes a passage as follows “In many comics stories there is nothing but violence. It is violence for violence’s sake. The plot: killing. The motive: to kill. The characterization: killer. The end: killed. In one comic book the scientist (‘mad,’ of course), Dr. Simon Lorch, after experimenting on himself with an elixir, has the instinct to ‘kill and kill again.’ He ‘flails’ to death two young men whom he sees changing a tire on the road. He murders two boys he finds out camping. And so on for a week. Finally he is killed himself.”
Wertham is clearly describing the story “Strange Potion of Dr. Lorch” from The Beyond #27. I have included a scan of the page where a bestial Dr. Lorch flails to death two young men changing a tire as described by Wertham on page 111.
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| Slot: |
Black Cat Comics 27 |
| Item: |
Black Cat Comics 27 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0248713016
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Owner Comments
Black Cat #27 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 193.
Wertham considered superwoman based stories as innately anti-male and lesbian and cited several examples from Wonder Woman and Black Cat on page 193. With regards to Black Cat, he describes the following “In the Black Cat stories, the superwoman in ordinary life is a young girl like any other. But when she goes into action, she is ‘Black Cat’ and has donned a sort of Superman uniform. In a story called ‘Mr. Zero and the Juvenile Delinquent’ a little boy is mercilessly beaten and is about to be kicked, as he lies helplessly on the floor, when Black Cat intervenes. On an educational page in the same book she gives good advice for violence as instruction for self-defense: ‘Swing the upper part of your body forward while slamming the edge of your left hand against his larynx. The impact will knock him down.’ At least!”
These examples come from Black Cat #27. I have included a scan of the panel containing the boy being “mercilessly beaten” as described by Wertham.
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| Slot: |
Black Cat Mystery 36 |
| Item: |
Black Cat Mystery Comics 36 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0174245002
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Owner Comments
Black Cat Mystery Comics #36 is referenced in the text of the “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) on pages 270-271. In this section of the SOTI, the author Fredric Wertham provides his analysis on why parents don’t take steps to stop their children from reading comic books. Wertham attributes the inaction to a feeling of “helplessness” by parents particularly mothers. He describes how mothers that raise their voice in objection to comics are attacked by experts for the defense (i.e. comic book publishers) that use “pseudo-Freudian lore” to explain why comic book reading is healthy for children.Wertham goes on to describe how a fictitious mother (Mrs. Jones) would feel reading Black Cat Mystery Comics #36 to her child Bobby (the comic is not identified directly but can be discerned from the descriptions of the stories and art). In this fictitious reading, the mother selects a comic that appeals to her because it has a full page add showing “forty-four smiling and happy children’s faces”. Upon selecting this comic she is distressed to find that the cover starts with “The Battle of Monsters!” and depicts “an enormous bestial colored human being who is brandishing a club and carrying off a scared blonde little boy in knee pants”. She goes on to read the first story filled with anxiety provoking language: “Look!! Their bodies are crumbling away!!”, “Kill! K-AARGHH!”, “YAIEE-E-E”. Skipping this story the mother begins another entitled “Whip of Death” where a young boy is tied to a mast and whipped to death by a captain. Wertham goes on to describe how the mother gives up reading the comic and decides that if the child-psychiatry and child-guidance expert say: “Bobby needs this to get rid of his aggressions he has to go through with it alone. She can’t take it.” Wertham sums up this section of the book with a simile that reading a comic book violates a child’s mind in a way similar to how a sexual assault violates a young girl - pretty strong stuff even for Wertham. In closing, to help you experience the trauma this comic inflicted on Bobby and his mom, I have include a scan of the front cover and the first page of the monster story. Prepare to be violated…
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| Slot: |
Black Cat Mystery 39 |
| Item: |
Black Cat Mystery Comics 39 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0915526001
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Owner Comments
Black Cat Mystery #39 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) on pages 386-388. The reference is contained in chapter XIV of the SOTI and this chapter, entitled “The Triumph of Dr. Payn”, takes its name from a character in a story from Black Cat Mystery #39. Wertham begins the chapter with a detailed description of the story “The Body Maker” from Black Cat Mystery #39. The story details the exploits of Dr. Payn, a Frankenstein monster inspired individual, as he goes about murdering and collecting the body parts of beautiful women. After describing the story, Wertham goes on to point out that this gruesome tale is clearly addressed to children by quoting from the letters page of the comic “I enjoy your books very much and read them in bed at night before I go to sleep. I am eleven years old.” Of the many examples that Wertham uses throughout the SOTI, I found “The Body Maker” to be perhaps his best example of a story that is not suited for young children. The story is well crafted but quite graphic in its lust-murder imagery. Although, as he is apt to do, Wertham is error prone is his description of the story. For example, he describes the opening scene as follows “When you first meet Dr. Payn, he is in his laboratory wearing a white coat. On a couch before him lies a blond young woman with conspicuous breasts, bare legs and the lower part of her skirt frazzled and in tatters, as if she had been roughly handled in strenuous but unsuccessful attempts to defend her honor.” I have included a scan of the opening page of the story. I think Wertham missed the point that the woman looks roughly handled not from defending her honor but because she’s been sewn together in a Frankenstein monster like way. In addition to “The Body Maker” another story, “The Witch Killer”, from Black Cat Mystery #39 is referenced on pages 387-388. Wertham quotes a passage from the story to provide an additional example of the age inappropriate material contained in comic books “A young solider ‘keeping watch in his foxhole in Korea’ is exterminated by a ghost: ‘The fangs and talons of the evil witch sank deeper into his jugular vein and then came out, withdrawing rich red blood. The young man sank forward, face up, dead!”
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| Slot: |
Blue Beetle 56 |
| Item: |
Blue Beetle 56 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1028649007
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Owner Comments
Blue Beetle #56 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) on page 145. Murder Incorporated #9 reprinted Blue Beetle #56 so Overstreet also lists this as a SOTI book since its unclear what comic Wertham referenced for the SOTI.On page 145, Wertham describes how the language used in comic books has a negative influence on children. He describes one story as follows: “In one comic book is a sexy picture of a blond female dressed in a string of beads and a scrap of material. She says: ‘a gentleman, he never blackjacked a woman. He hit them with his fists.’ Millions of children have been taught that this kind of thing is the smart thing to say.”Wertham’s quotation is taken from a short ½ page story contained in Blue Beetle #56. The story recounts the exploits of an infamous gang leader known as Monk Eastman. I have included a scan of the Monk Eastman story panel from Blue Beetle #56.
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| Slot: |
Brenda Starr v2 #4 |
| Item: |
Brenda Starr v2 #4 |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1109070004
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Owner Comments
Brenda Starr Volume 2 #4 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) in the text on page 21.On page 21, Wertham describes the cover of Brenda Starr Volume 2 #4 as follows “First of all there is the cover. It is always printed on much better paper than the rest of the book, and of course has much larger print and the colors stand out more glaringly and forcefully. The title also counts for a lot. The scene depicted on the cover is usually violet. It is intended to catch the child’s attention and whet his appetite. For example, in a comic-book reprint of a newspaper comic strip – the cover shows a scene which does not occur at all in the strip. In transforming this comic strip, intended chiefly for adults, to a comic book for children, this scene is added: A young woman with prominent breasts and nude legs is lying on a cot. Her lips are rouged, her hair falls loosely in masses over her bare shoulders and her face has a coquettish expression. This is supposed to be the scene of a surgical operation! There are two white-gowned and white-capped men beside her, one about to put a chloroform mask over her face, the other holding scissors in his right hand and in his left a knife whose sharp blade is surrounded with a yellow zigzag halo (used in comic books as a rule to designate the effects of cutting or shooting). The whole scene has nothing to do with medicine and is unmistakably sadistic.”
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| Slot: |
(Bugs Bunny) Four Color 250 |
| Item: |
Four Color 250 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4471823012
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Owner Comments
Bugs Bunny (Four Color) #250 is referenced in Fredric Wertham’s “Seduction of the Innocent” (SOTI) on page 309. In the SOTI, Wertham makes a point of describing comic books that appear to be harmless or “good” when in actuality, from Wertham’s perspective; they feature a significant level of cruelty, violence or other undesirable features. With regards to Bugs Bunny (Four Color) #250, Wertham describes how this comic contains racial stereotypes and violence. Specifically, he describes the comic as follows “The same theme of race ridicule is played up in the good animal comic book Bugs Bunny. Colored people are described as ‘superstitious natives’ and you see them running away. The injury-to-the-eye motif is added, Bugs Bunny being shown throwing little diamonds into the eyes of colored people. They are ‘big enough to blind a feller!’ says Bunny. ‘Awk! I can’t see!’ says on victim. Is that not the same crime-comic book ingredient adapted to the younger set?”
For additional reference, I have included a scan of the page from Bugs Bunny #250 that contains the injury to the eye panel.
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