In the 1950s, America declared war on the comic book. People feared that theyβd turn children into hardened criminals, and so opponents burned them in large piles, states banned them, and the U.S. Senate investigated their dangers.
1954: Seduction of the Innocent published by Werthamtrello1954
βThe Superman type of comic books tends to force and super-force. Dr. Paul A. Witty, professor of education at Northwestern University, has well described these comics when he said that they "present our world in a kind of Fascist setting of violence and hate and destruction. I think it is bad for children," he goes on, "to get that kind of recurring diet ... [they] place too much emphasis on a Fascist society. Therefore the democratic ideals that we should seek are likely to be overlooked." Actually, Superman (with the big S on his uniform β we should, I suppose, be thankful that it is not an SS) needs an endless stream of ever new submen, criminals and "foreign-looking" people not only to justify his existence but even to make it possible.β
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