I stumbled upon this video, aired on October 9, 1955 in LA, about the impact of comic books on youth. This was all part of the Frederic Wertham “Seduction of the Innocent” scare and subsequent hearings.

At about 5:30 into the video the reporter talks about finding and destroying all the warehoused comic books since they are a lurking threat. It gets even better at the 8:00 minute mark. After all, when he was a kid they only made nasty commments about their teachers on the sidewalk with chalk, they didn’t read comics! Of course, EC comics and stories hold a prime place in this video. The music is great!

Do comic books contribute to juvenile delinquency?

Spearheaded by Dr. Frederic Wertham and his infamous book “Seduction of the Innocent” the U.S. Congress conducted hearings on this very subject.

Author David Hadju’s book, “The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America” delves into the subject. He talks about the book and the 1950’s scare in the video below. Definitely a must read for comic book collectors.

While your at it, you might as well pick up a copy of the original book itself!