The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, david hajdu argues, though they were not traitors, the makers of crime, romance, and horror comics were propagandists of. Today werthams assertions amongst others about the homoerotic subtext of the relationship between batman and robin may be the punch line to a longforgotten joke, but author david hajdu in his book tencent plague the great comicbook scare and how it changed america tells how these allegations were taken seriously not just by a. Vividly written and meticulously researched, hajdus account takes us from the birth of the first funnies to the death of ec and the triumph of the censors. Comicbook controversy is a cautionary tale nbc news. Tencent plague tells of horror comics censorship in. The tencent plague ebook by david hajdu 9781429937054. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america by david hajdu. Rent the tencent plague the great comicbook scare and how it changed america 1st edition 9780312428235 and save up to 80% on textbook rentals and 90% on used textbooks. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america. Rudnickis steely narration of the great comic book scare of 195354 will raise the hackles of any freethinking americanthe book is outstanding, even for those who dont love comic books. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, the tencent plague, david hajdu, farrar, straus and giroux. The tencent plague the great comicbook scare and how it changed america book. The tencent plague by david hajdu overdrive rakuten.
The great comicbook scare and how it changed america from the worlds largest community of readers. One of the artists interviewed by david hajdu for hajdus authoritative survey of the comic book industry, the tencent plague. The tencent plague quotes by david hajdu goodreads. The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told until the ten cent plague. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america by david hajdu it has never been easy to publish comic books for all ages in america. The tencent plague book the seattle public library. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america by david hajdu farrar, straus and giroux, 434 pp. According to david hajdu, author of the tencent plague. Geoffrey obrien, author of sonata for jukebox every once in a while, moral panic, innuendo, and fear bubble up from the depths of our culture to create waves of destructive indignation and accusation. The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told until the tencent plague. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america new york, 2008. Pouring sordid stories into the minds of children the new. The great comic book scare and how it changed america by david hajdu farrar, straus and giroux, 434 pp.
The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, celardo was a member of artists and writers, the national cartoonists society and the staten island kiwanis club. The comicbook scare david hajdu bookforum magazine. Conservative cultural historians of the time had north korean troops at the 37th parallel, the hbomb slowly but surely assembling itself in soviet khazakstan, and frothy tides of heroin washing down the streets of americas ghettos. Colliers magazine ran an article on wertham titled horror in the nursery. Rudnickis steely narration of the great comic book scare of 195354 will raise the hackles of any freethinking americanthe book is outstanding, even. Stan lee and the rise and fall of the american comic book. Pouring sordid stories into the minds of children the. With the tencent plague, david hajdu does for comic books what his previous books did so brilliantly for music. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, discusses the rise and fall of comics, and how their unwelcome. The great comic bookscare and how it changed america audiobook by david hajdu. The tencent plague by david hajdu book read online scribd. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, david hajdu spends a fair amount of time parsing the career of fredric wertham, a particularly wildeyed, energetic anticomics zealot. The ten cent plague hardcover the great comic book scare and how it changed america.
The great comic book scare and how it changed america, discusses the rise and fall of comics, and how their unwelcome. Strangely, david hajdu wrote in his book the tencent plague. In an interview, david hajdu, author of the book the tencent plague. Mar 23, 2008 that said, the tencent plague is a worthy addition to the canon of comicbook literature. The true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 newbery honor book the american plague the ten cent plague. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, david hajdu argues, though they were not traitors, the makers of crime, romance, and horror comics were propagandists of.
The great comic book scare and how it changed america, author david hajdu attempts to examine the birth of the comic book in america and trace its childhood and adolecense up to the point where people generally freaked out about how this wicked, perverted, and macabre art form was mauling the morals of this great country. In an interview, david hajdu, author of the book the ten cent plague. The tencent plague shows howyears before musiccomics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Pdf the ten cent plague download full pdf book download. Books on comic books including 2008 the tencent plague. As a description of history, the ten cent plague is matchless. His popularity spurred dozens of other superheroes like batman and captain america. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, hajdu revisits the boycotts, bans, and congressional hearings that ended the golden days of comic book artistry, a. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone.
The tencent plague npr coverage of the tencent plague. The black death in victorian san francisco a plague year. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america david hajdu, the classic era of american comics. If those responsible refuse to clean up the comicbook marketand to all appearances most of them do, the time has come to legislate these books off the newsstands and out of the candy stores. Thanks to narrator stefan rudnicki, other books on the history of comic books cant even touch the tencent plague. The great comic book scare and how it changed america the barbary plague. The great comic book scare and how it changed america illustrated edition by david hajdu isbn. The tencent plague the great comicbook scare and how it. General, social science popular culture, 20th century, comic books, strips, etc, history, social aspects, united states.
David hajdu in the years between world war ii and the emergence of television as a mass medium, american popular culture as we know it was first createdin. The great comic book scare and how it changed america by david hajdu. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america david hajdu, author. Hajdus research is exhaustive without being exhausting to read. Stan lee and marvel saved the comicbook industry quartz. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america 9780312428235. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, david hajdu argues, though they were not traitors, the makers of crime, romance, and horror comics were propagandists of a sort, cultural insurgents.
Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, the attack on comic booksculminating in a sensational televised congressional committee hearing in 1954is particularly important because it marks the birth of the rebellious youth culture of the 1960s. Geoffrey obrien, author of sonata for jukebox every once in a while, moral panic, innuendo, and fear bubble up from the depths of our culture to create waves of. Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the library of congress catalog. Designed to resemble a stamp, the seal bore the words approved by the comics code authority, which was the regulatory arm of the comics magazine association of america. In the years between world war ii and the emergence of television as a mass. David hajdu in his revealing new history the tencent plague. Read the tencent plague the great comicbook scare and how it changed america by david hajdu available from rakuten kobo.
The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, author david hajdu attempts to examine the birth of the comic book in america and trace its childhood and adolecense up to the point where people generally freaked out about how this wicked, perverted, and macabre art form was mauling the morals of this great country. They expressed in their lurid panels, thereby helping to instill in their readers, a disregard for the niceties of proper society, a passion for wild ideas and fast. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america at. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, david hajdu writes about another comic related scandal, admittedly of greater importance than the one i. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, david hajdu argues, though they were not traitors, the makers of crime, romance, and horror comics were propagandists of a sort, cultural insurgents. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america ebook. David hajdu tells the whole story in the tencent plague. David hajdus remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority. Tencent plague tells of horror comics censorship in the. The great comic book scare and how it changed america. It was a new art form called the comic book, and in its pages lay the prescription for nothing less than the destruction of america. Books on comic books including 2008 the tencent plague by david hajdu. This time the enemy was not a homicidal german dictator. A worthy enterprise, to be sure, but one wonders whether groups like the ncac would agitate even a teensy bit on behalf of the kind of publications that are the subject of david hajdus intriguing but sometimes frustrating new book, the tencent plague.
In the years between world war ii and the emergence of television as a mass medium, american popular culture as we know it was first createdin the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. David hajdu in the years between world war ii and the emergence of television as a mass medium, american popular culture as we know it was first createdin the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. Theres this moment in the 1954 united states subcommittee on investigating. Jul 01, 2008 a worthy enterprise, to be sure, but one wonders whether groups like the ncac would agitate even a teensy bit on behalf of the kind of publications that are the subject of david hajdus intriguing but sometimes frustrating new book, the tencent plague.
Get 50% off this audiobook at the audiobooksnow online audio book store and download or stream it right to your computer, smartphone or tablet. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, by david hajdu. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, horror in the nursery never mentioned that the location of werthams research site was harlem. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, david hajdu chronicles what he calls a forgotten chapter. Those who did not have to live through the early 50s can. The great comic book scare and how it changed america, david hajdu chronicles what he calls a forgotten chapter in the history of the culture wars the heated.
David hajdu in the years between world war ii and the. The great comicbook scare and how it changed america, hajdu revisits the boycotts, bans, and congressional hearings that ended the. The trade associations comics code authority and its seal of approval were the publishers answer to their critics. He was the music critic for the new republic for 12 years and is music editor at the nation. Wertham nevertheless worried that even these contained themes of violence. The great comic book scare and how it changed america new york, 2008. David hajdu is an american columnist, author and professor at columbia university graduate. The tencent plague audiobook, written by david hajdu. The tencent plague has the readability and vivid characters of a great novel as hajdu tells his entertaining, thoughtprovoking account of the censorship debate over comic books in the 1950s, and how it trickled down.
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