In case you missed it, I did a special Evil Inc-themed guest strip for my friends Bill and Gene at Unshelved. It's part of their series of "book report" comics. The book that I'm discussing is one that my father-in-law lent to me just before I left for San Diego. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great American Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America was a tremendous read. It covers the birth of the comic-book industry and its demise at the hands of religious leaders, politicians, and other opinion-makers. Author David Hajdu offers an insightful look at a fascinating time in comic-book history, and a sobering account of the effects of censorship.Sure, Tales from the Crypt could be pretty spooky back then, but if you want a real chill, go to the last chapter -- a simple list of the names of people who left (or were forced out of) the comic-book industry as the result of the Comics Code Authority and its effect on the comics.
It goes on for pages.
POLL: I've seen some of the comics from the 50s (like the infamous EC Comics) and ...
| 82% (68) | People over-reacted. | |
| 3% (3) | Those comics deserved to be censored. | |
| 13% (11) | Not on my pull-list, pal. |
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