Today, most Americans associate comic books with superheroes. But in the early 1950s, horror comics were king, and the king of the horror comics was EC Comics.
EC was known for pushing the envelope. Their horror and suspense titles often featured dark, gory tales that occasionally dipped into social commentary and almost always ended in a grisly murder. This made them very popular with readers, but it didn’t sit well with certain demographics, such as Christian religious leaders. They objected to the violence and to the bad morals these comics were allegedly teaching children. Most notorious of all was psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, who, as Dr. Carol Tilley showed in her 2012 paper, falsified data to make it seem as if comics—all comics—were contributing to juvenile delinquency.
In response to these specious allegations, Congress convened the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency to hear testimony, mostly from people who disliked comic books, about the supposed negative influence of comics on young people. One of the few pro-comics people to testify was EC’s president, Bill Gaines. This turned out to be a very bad idea.
The hearings ...
English (US)