No chance against Dick

My weeding and re-shelving project has uncovered another gem, Fredric Wertham's 1954 Seduction of the Innocent, a jeremiad about the corrupting influence of comic books:

"Sometimes Batman ends up in bed injured and young Robin is shown sitting next to him. At home they lead an idyllic life. They are Bruce Wayne and "Dick" Grayson. Bruce Wayne is described as a "socialite" and the official relationship is that Dick is Bruce's ward. They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and have a butler, Alfred. Batman is sometimes shown in a dressing gown. As they sit by the fireplace the young boy sometimes worries about his partner: 'Something's wrong with Bruce. He hasn't been himself these past few days.' It's like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together.

. . . In these stories there are practically no decent, attractive, successful women. A typical female character is the Catwoman, who is vicious and uses a whip. The atmosphere is homosexual and anti-feminine. If the girl is good-looking she is undoubtedly the villainess. If she is after Bruce Wayne, she will have no chance against Dick."

In other news, water is wet.

If you need a good Christmas cry

Fun with Intertextuality

I'm not even completely clear on who the Watchman really is, but this is really fun.

But can I just say how much I have always loathed W. C. W.'s poem about the plums in the icebox? We-coulda-made-pie versus some poet's fucking sensitivity--is it even a contest?

April Notes

The second issue of Notes from the Horn Book has been published. Martha celebrates Opening Day, Jennifer tries out some new books on her kids; I talk to Françoise Mouly of comix and New Yorker fame. See and sign up right here.

Someone asked yesterday about the letter in Notes from J. Wakefield in Sweet Valley. Of course she's real, although the absence of spelling or grammatical errors makes me a mite suspicious that her sister E. actually wrote the letter. Oh, those mischievous twins.