The E-Sylum:  Volume 11, Number 12, March 23, 2008, Article 20

COINS VS. COMICS: DICK JOHNSON ON THE GREAT COMIC BOOK SCARE

Dick Johnson writes: "Be glad you collect coins instead of
comic books. For one thing, you can't pick up a copy on
newsprint without damaging the corners and bending the pages
forever.  For another, your mother may have cleaned out your
room and threw out all your old copies (now worth four and
five figures).

"A recently published book, 'The Ten-Cent Plaque: The Great
Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America' by David Hajdu,
was reviewed this week on the blog HOUstone. It documents all
the travails of comic books. It seems a self-appointed do-gooder,
Dr. Frederic Wertham, a sort of Dr. Phil of his day who, as a
physician and not a social scientist, firmly saw a clear and
unbreakable link between comic books and juvenile delinquency.

"Wertham’s treatise, 'Seduction of the Innocent,' quickly
stoked an existing fire that had parent and civic groups in
arms, leading to mass burnings of comics (which would be worth
a fortune today), banning, and most memorably, Congressional
hearings.

"Thank goodness Congressional hearings of numismatic interest
these days are aimed at what more coins can the U.S. Mint produce
for the burgeoning coin market. Thank goodness your mother wouldn't
think of throwing out your old coin collection -- after all it
was money!  Pity the poor comic book enthusiast."

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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