The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

When I saw the interview where the writer of this book said that he had never really read comics, He came across as just another mainstream person who writes aboutr a subject but has little or no education background on the subject itself. Yeah, real nice.

What a wonderful book about a terrible waste and shameful time in American history. Hadju traces the rise of comics from the puckish newspaper funnies through the creation of the superhero pantheon, the diversity of comic book genres and the eventual painful demise under the censorship and revilement of the late 1950s society. I learned so many things from this book. What a tragedy that all those creative and talented writers and artists, most from minorities who were rejected from mainstream and "high" art were villified.

'Ten Cent Plague' shows an image of America at its best and worst; as a land that fostered the rise of an industry of great originality and intelligence and as a society of people so desperate for a scapegoat that adults and children both rounded up and burned thousands of comic books less than 10 years after the fall of the Nazis.

This was a fascinating, well-researched, immensley engrossing book and a vital reminder of the dangers of assigning blame to any one artist or medium.

Highly informative, slightly esoteric, and entirely relevant, Hajdu's case study on the hysteria surrounding crime comic-books at the dawn of the Cold War left me with far more questions than answers. While this generally is a sign that an author has breached the innermost walls of my cerebrum and forced me to question my previous held assumptions regarding a given topic, Hajdu's impeccable research and wealth of knowledge was simply too much to handle. When I first purchased the book, I was under the assumption that I would be getting a comprehensive look at the hysteria surrounding the comic-book industry as a whole. Not so. Hajdu's research is extraordinarily focused (essentially the decade following WWII), yet highly effective. Those looking for a bit of easy reading need not apply. But I digress...
As a twenty-three-year-old, it makes perfect sense that I would find Hajdu's book rather esoteric. Simply put, I never experienced any of the comic-book burnings or public hysteria cited by Hajdu. But, that does not leave me ignorant of the reactionary elements central to the hysteria surrounding potentially "damaging" aspects of youth culture. As I read this book, I couldn't help but be reminded of the "parental advisory" stickers gracing my generation's compact discs, or the on-going debate surrounding the influence of violent video games on the minds of our nation's "impressionable" youth. Let's not forget the censorship imposed by retail outlets like Target or Wal-Mart, who have effectively banned CD's containing "objectionable" lyrical content from their shelves. So what's the bottom line? I think there's fertile ground for a sequel...

At various times, Americans have chosen to believe that comic books create juvenile delinquency and encourage all kinds of immoral behavior by corrupting the young, as described in the book with a questionable basis, Seduction of the Innocent. The Ten-Cent Plague describes a free-wheeling industry that entertained youngsters and people in their twenties with anti-establishment themes and stories.

Despite little or no research to support these views and the Supreme Court upholding the First Amendment, legislators listened to a few psychiatrists and church and scout leaders who believed otherwise and put stiff penalties on those who put out the most popular comics (especially crime, horror, and romance). Distributors and newsstand dealers didn't want to go to jail over comic books, and they knuckled under to the pressure. Publishers quickly began to go broke. The industry tried to save itself with a rigid self-censorship code that made comics bland and did little to restore sales. Hundreds of comic titles died, and many talented people left the industry under a dark cloud.

Mad Magazine was one of the few survivals, and only because it converted from a comic book to a magazine (which wasn't subject to the same penalties).

It's a chapter in American history that few know about or understand. David Hadju does a solid job of describing it. I was a child during most of this and was aware of the protests against comic books, but didn't realize what the effects were.

This book could have been quite a bit shorter and punchier. I was disappointed that so many simple events (like a comic book burning) were treated in such detail. It was a little ho hum after awhile.

I found this book totally fascinating. Not only does it discuss the social history surrounding comics in the 40's and 50's but you can also see some parallels between the traditional culture's reaction to comics back then and the reaction of some to video games today. (There as some big differences though that will prevent the anti-gaming types (Jack Thompson, etc.) today from doing the damage Werthiemer (sp?) and his crew did back then.) I think anyone interested in social history, comics or video games will enjoy this book.