The ensuing televised congressional hearings almost destroyed the industry, forcing hundreds of publishers out of business and nearly 1,000 people out of work. Parent groups routinely blamed comic books for 'juvenile delinquency.' The hysteria reached a fever pitch with the publication of Fredric Wertham's controversial vilification of comic books, Seduction of the Innocent (1954). To the ire of many 'right-thinking' adults, these tales often contained such unsavory elements as sexual innuendo, detailed crime depictions, and excessive violence. Many individual issues sold in the millions of copies. David Hajdu recounts this troubled time in The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.ĭuring the late 1940s and early 1950s, these 10-cent illustrated pulp magazines – intended primarily for children – featured stories of superheroes, teen angst, crime, romance, and horror. In this interview, Chad and David discuss his book The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America which looks at the events surrounding the rise and almost fall of the comic industry in the 1950s.The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajduĭuring the 1950s, many creative institutions came under societal and governmental scrutiny: movies, books, and especially comics. and the events that led to Fredrich Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and the Comic Book Code Authority. Hajdu examines in depth the clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. He is currently working on a nonfiction book about artificial creativity, to be published by W. His most recent books are Adrianne Geffel, a “fictional work of nonfiction,” and A Revolution in Three Acts, a graphic history created in collaboration with the artist John Carey. Love for Sale: Pop Music in America (fall 2016).

Heroes and Villains: Essays on Music, Movies, Comics, and Culture (2009),.

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America (2008),.

Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña (2001).

Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn (1996),.

Hajdu has published four books of nonfiction and one collection of essays: David Hajdu a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a music critic for The Nation

The great comic book scare