Fredric Wertham Archives

Exposed #1 (D.S. Publishing, 1948)
Publishing is best remembered today for a short-lived but extensive crime comic book line including titles like Gangsters Can't Win, Outlaws, Public Enemies, Pay-Off, Underworld, and Exposed.  The Exposed title lasted nine issues 1948 to 1949 and contained a mix of high-profile murderers from throughout true crime history that often tended towards the brutal end[...]
The True Horror of Crime SuspenStories #22
The horrific image on the front of Crime SuspenStories #22 by Johnny Craig has long been considered one of the most iconic covers in American comic book history.  It's a potent symbol of that moment in time:  EC Comics Publisher William Gaines tensely squaring off against Senator Estes Kefauver to debate the artistic merits of[...]
Bill Gaines Was Right, Right?
Gaines was quickly challenged by Herbert Beaser, chief counsel to the subcommittee, when he referenced the testimony of Fredric Wertham Testifying immediately before Gaines, Wertham, a psychiatrist and outspoken critic of comic books, had pointed out multiple examples of violence, racism, and intolerance in EC publications Gaines sought to use this opportunity to engage the[...]
Dr Fredric Wertham Lied And Lied And Lied About Comics
The Illinois News Bureau reports, (with the most condescending and predictable headline you can imagine, even for Bleeding Cool) that Dr Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction Of The Innocent, the book that inspired government hearings about the content of comic books, saw sales plummet from the bad publicity, and eventually leading to the establishment of[...]