The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
Farrar, Straus and Giroux - Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release date: 2008-03-18
Hardcover
Author: David Hajdu
Comic book & cartoon art, History of specific subjects, Literary studies: general, Popular culture, Comic books, strips, etc, Graphic Satire And Humor, Satire And Humor, Comics & Graphic Novels, History - U.S., Literature - Classics / Criticism, USA, Comics & Graphic Novels / History & Criticism, Form - Comic Strips & Cartoons, History & Criticism, Social Science / Popular Culture, United States - 20th Century (1945 to 2000), Popular Culture - General, 20th century, Comic books, strips, etc., History, Social aspects, United States, Popular Culture & Media: General Interest
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The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
Date undefinedThe Ten-Cent Plague does an incredible job of framing the context of the early 1950s and helps us to understand how it was possible for comic books to be seen as a threat big enough to warrant book burnings and Congressional witch hunts. Well told story.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
Date undefinedThe controversy over the damage that comic books can do to young impressionable minds in the 1950's is a very important historical counterpoint to know about. This is the age of McCarthy, schools teaching kids to drop and roll in the case of nuclear attack, Russia on the war path, Prague Spring, and a whole host of post world war two anxieties that gripped and held onto America throughout this decade. The attack on comics was no different, in the age of angst, comics started coming into their own and extending boundaries on what is and what is not acceptable. Society was bound to react in a draconian method which makes for fascinating reading 50 years later.
I found this book fascinating given the historical context of the time, from the end of world war two through the end of the 1950's with the adoption of the Comics Magazine Association of America is responsible for the death of the great American comic book. Bowing to social pressure, the comic book industry had to do something, and the end result was a gutting of the comic book industry. While no one at the time would see the eventual outcome of the CMAA, the influence has been felt by a generation of comic book readers and more. Even though the comic book industry has tried to work out of their slump, it has not gone as good has it could have been if the boundaries had continued to expand with comic books as much as they were expanding with society at the time.
While the comic book industry has attempted multiple attempts at revival and seen some success, the overshadowing of the CMAA and its influences continued to alter how comics were perceived. What is good is that with the advent of comic book based movies, grandparents are showing the grand kids that it is cool to be a super hero, wear your underwear outside your pants, and fight for the good guys. That it is ok to like zombies, detectives, and gritty comics. What is disappointing in this book is that the late 1960's comic book revival, with some of the more interesting new writers, is not discussed. But that would make an equally interesting book to read, honestly David Haidu could write a book for each decade of the comic book industry working out how each decade attempted to touch readers, and how they won, and how the failed.
I really enjoyed this book; it was absolutely fascinating how an industry can gut itself and squander its artistic talent in such a short period of time. This would make a business case study that the pursuit of the short term often comes at the cost of the long term. Five of Five stars, I think I want to read this book again.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
Date undefinedFirst, I have to admit that I am not a comic book expert or collector. I do have a modest collection of Black Hawk (Blackhawk) comics, but only because they were my favorites when I was a kid. I really did not read this work due to any overwhelming interest in comics. I did read them growing up and well remember the hysteria surrounding them in the 1950s. I will admit though that I did read quite a number of them during that time period. My parents liked peace and quiet and found that giving me a comic would shut my never ending talk up for a bit. I did read this book though because I do have a great interest in censorship in any form, and I am interested in the particular era covered by this work.
The author has certainly done some wonderful research with this offering. He gives us a very nice discussion of the history of the comic book in America, which I found quite interesting. I am sure that most comic enthusiasts will be aware of this information, but I was not, so I enjoyed it and learned. After his history he goes into the, as I said, "hysteria" which showed its ugly head every so often as to the effect this particular art form had upon the youth of our nation. Particular attention is made to the period of the late 1940s and the 1950s when the real trouble began.
Post war America was in many ways, a rather scary place. For those of you not there at the time, you need to remember stories of The Red Scare, The Bomb, Eugene McCarthy, women asserting themselves in the work place, The Yellow Peril, population upheavals, transformation after a world wide depression...and the list goes on. Among the "evils," or so it was thought, was an increase in juvenile crime. The term "Juvenile Delinquent" became a part of our everyday vocabulary. Naturally, people needed something to blame these problems on. If a communist was not handy, or jazz music was not being played on the radio, then something else had to do. It this case, the comic book was chosen. I suppose since the beginning of time, young folk have rebelled a bit against the system or their elders, and since the beginning to time the elders have sworn up and down that the young are going to hell in a hand basket. When you think about it, this process is still going on. This is the natural way of thing; always has been, always will be.
The author has given us a wonderful study of how a thought, a word, a picture, a story can be twisted and used by the powerful to meet their own needs and justify their own ends. In this case the PTA, politicians, preachers, the church, the Boy and Girl Scouts, schools, educators and the local village idiot all got in on the act. Priest, preachers, congressmen, psychiatrists, the news media, parents, George who worked at the local barber shop, all had an opinion. The author weaves a wonderful readable tale chronicling all of this. Now make no mistake; this is not what I would classify as an "easy read." This is probably more of a scholarly work that a piece of popular history. It is easy to consume and teaches though, and holds the reader's interest.
All in all, I found this to be a remarkable read. I learned new things and it certainly gave me much more food for thought. For history buffs, pop culture enthusiasts, comic collectors, and the generally curious, it would be hard to beat this one. Highly recommend this one.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
