Max Allan
Collins takes the name of his book, Seduction
of the Innocent, from the title of a notorious book by psychologist Frederic Wertham. The original was anti-comics propaganda that falsely linked comic book reading to juvenile delinquency. Collins’ novel is a pulpy crime story in which a stand-in for Wertham is
murdered.
Fans of comics or pulp culture will find a lot to enjoy in
this book. There are many ways to experience the frisson of recognition because
many of the characters are based—to varying degrees—on real-life comic book artists, writers and publishers from the 1950s, when Wertham’s screed was published.
Even the senate hearings headed by Estes Kefauver are featured in the course of the
book.
The real Wertham was not
murdered. Collins is careful not to make his stand-in too repulsive He
acknowledges that Wertham did a lot of good work, even if his research tying
comics to youth crime was bad.
The tone of the book is
often silly, as you might expect from a
tongue-in-cheek fictionalization of silver age comics publishing. It is still hardboiled, so there is plenty of sex and
violence to go around.
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