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Bought myself a new book4432

Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
Found this one - and it has the "R" on the publication book. All illustrations intact. First edition - 2nd state. Very happy. Now I am going to read it and see whether I should start collecting the comics illustrated!

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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right? DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user
Awesome! SOTI? I've never read it but I bet it's interesting. And, yea, it should be a nice checklist for the most notorious comics of the time.
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
@DWeeB1967 yes - didn't realize but this one has a full page illustration
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Collector VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user
@poka
I know about this book but not the significance of the "R"
Can you fill me in on what that is?
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
@VaComicsGuy only first printing first edition has the R.
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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right? DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by poka
@DWeeB1967 yes - didn't realize but this one has a full page illustration


@poka I didn't know that either but, really, I'm not surprised given the nature of the image.

@VaComicsGuy My understanding is that the "R" was only included on first editions.
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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right? DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user
@poka Does this copy have the bibliography on pages 399-400?
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Collector VaComicsGuy private msg quote post Address this user
@poka
@DWeeB1967

Thanks.
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
@DWeeB1967 that would have been too good to be true - so yes but only as a photocopy.
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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right? DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user
@poka Ahh, well... Maybe that is too much to wish for . Still a really nice grab. Congrats!
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Collector Drogio private msg quote post Address this user
Sorry, but what is this book?
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Collector poka private msg quote post Address this user
@Drogio Seduction of the Innocent - also referred to as SOTI.
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Collector 00slim private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drogio
Sorry, but what is this book?


THE book that almost destroyed the comic book industry. A money hungry (and quite crazy) psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham claimed in this book that comic books turned innocent children into delinquents & sexual deviants.
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Collector Drogio private msg quote post Address this user
Thanks, I know of the book...just didn't know that was it as none of th picks had a title or dust jacket. I need to ch cak out my local used book store to see if they have a copy. Under what genre would one look for this book? Thanks!
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Collector 00slim private msg quote post Address this user
Once I realized you had over 1k in feedback on here, I realized you probably knew about the book. I felt kinda foolish for giving the rundown after that.
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You do know that the new guy brings the donuts, right? DWeeB1967 private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drogio
Thanks, I know of the book...just didn't know that was it as none of th picks had a title or dust jacket. I need to ch cak out my local used book store to see if they have a copy. Under what genre would one look for this book? Thanks!


It is actually still in print if you just want to read it and don't necessarily care about owning an older copy. In fact you can even get digital copies if you're so inclined. Check out Amazon.
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Collector DocBrown private msg quote post Address this user
It also led to the Senate hearings in which, unfortunately, Bill Gaines failed the industry in spectacular fashion.

Bill Gaines was a mild-mannered kinda guy. When he was asked by Kefauver if what he published was in "good taste", Gaines hemmed and hawed a bit. He gave a spectacular opening statement, then went downhill from there.

If he had just said "no, these publications are not for children, nor are they meant for children. They are meant for adults, and should not be read by, or sold to, children", the Comics Code might never have existed. But he didn't. Instead, he said they are "in good taste", according to his definition, and they wouldn't harm children.

That was the fatal mistake that destroyed EC.

A shame, too.

http://www.thecomicbooks.com/gaines.html

I would suggest anyone interested in this part of comics history to read Gaines' testimony, linked here. It's pretty fascinating.
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Collector X51 private msg quote post Address this user
Alternately, you can view the whole thing here:

http://www.archive.org/stream/juveniledelinque54unit#page/2/mode/2up

You can read the declassified FBI files on William Gaines here:
http://comiclist.comuf.com/EC/EC_Comics_Investigated.html

He was being investigated for sedition.
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it! IronMan private msg quote post Address this user
Seduction of the Innocent is so interesting at a many levels. I have a couple of copies. It's publication and wide popularity ended up having far reaching consequences for the publication of comic books and comic fandom itself.

SOTI is proof that even highly educated individuals can commit huge flaws of logic. In Wertham's case, he confused causation with coincidence. A psychiatrist that specialized in treating juvenile delinquents, he concluded that comic books lead to juvenile delinquency because all of the juveniles he treated read comic books. This was the 1950's. Practically all kids read comics. Had Wertham asked, he probably would have discovered nearly all of his patients also rode bicycles and watched the Lone Ranger on TV.

In Wertham's defense, he didn't actually advocate for censorship. It was the panicked comic book publishers that set up the Comics Code Authority and voluntarily agreed to censorship of their work. Wertham was more interested in something that indicated when comics were not appropriate for children. Essentially something like what movies have. A rating system.
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Collector 00slim private msg quote post Address this user
I don't know. He had a possible case & then He went beyond cause & effect. As I understand it, He fabricated studies. He made up cases to prove his point.
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