The Cubic Zirconium Reader

Seduction of the Innocent

aka Why I Like Golden Age Books



 

!! This Page will take 2 to 3 minutes to download as it has over 20 pictures, I have tried to keep there size to a minimum. Your patience will be rewarded !!

Welcome to The Seduction of the Innocent Page

This page is dedicated to pre-code Golden Age comic book. For those that are new to comics, I hope this shows you how great comics were in the 1930's to 1950's and why there is such an interest in Golden Age books. For those of you who already know, enjoy the ride.

Seduction of the Innocent by Fredric Wertham in 1953 and Parade of Pleasure written by Geoffrey Wagner in 1954 were two books that changed comics for more than a generation. Seduction of the Innocent(SOTI) was the more influential book. In this book Dr. Wertham examined an anecdotal relationship between delinquency and comic books. He pointed out that violence in comics were carried out and served as inspiration to troubled youths. He also discussed the portrayal of female characters as victims of violence and the use of bondage and torture and its impact on these youths. Below are number of pictures taken from both comics I collect and from SOTI that depict some of things I find most interesting in the Golden Age books.

To those that have been here before, I have increased the number of images but have divided the page up so that it is easier to view. Each theme has an additional page of images, so don't miss out!

Sexism - everything from headlights (prominently drawn breasts) to extremely tight clothing (including buttocks and groins). More headlights and tight clothing here!
 


Bondage - this includes the classic damsel in distress tied up on railway tracks to slavery. A very common theme both in comics and on their covers. Almost invariably it was the female characters tied up and shackled. More women in chains here!

Torture - the image below was taken from SOTI and the caption below reads "Children told me what the man was going to do with the red-hot poker." The other images are from my books with similar scenes. More torture pictures here!

Violence Against Women - in many crime and action books this was a prevailing theme with everything from cat fights and spanking to punches and mortal gun wounds. More violence and cat fight pictures here

Suggestive Scenes - I tend to find these quite humorous and what is even more humorous is Dr. W imagination as depicted below. The caption below this picture reads: In ordinary comic books there are pictures within pictures for children who know how to look. (the second picture is a close up of the shoulder and is suppose to suggest a naked lower female torso). May I suggest some more great pictures?

Crime Specifics - this ranged from True crime stories to fictional step-by-step instructions. Below is a scan from SOTI showing all the points on the human body to hurt or kill someone, taken from a comic.

Racism - although not a focus of Dr. W's, he did mention it in several places. This is one of the most obvious differences from golden age books with blacks portrayed as unintelligent savages and oriental portrayed as underhanded murderers. I have no doubt that comics have contributed in part to the bigotry that still pervades our society. More bigotry abound here!

Violence Against Police - helping to foster the deep respect in law enforcement so prevalent in society now and then. This is a scan from Crime Does Not Pay and that is a cop being shot in the back.









Impact of the code  Below are two scans that show some of the immediate impact of the comic code on comic content. They are from the same story one was precode and the other was reprinted post code. Notice the change in the level of violence, the women's neck line, the guy dying and even the language. There goes the neighborhood.  There are no fatalities in the accident, the arrow is no longer present and other such changes are noted.  The later scans are from New York State Legislative documents on comics.  Wertham was involved in this.



Hope you enjoyed the Golden Age. I will be adding more stuff as I find time so look back every couple months.
 
 

Email me at  monkeyb0y@home.com
 
 

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