WERTHAM's What Are Comic Books? * Rare 1949 Pamphlet

Heading:
Author: Wertham, Fredric
Title: What Are Comic Books? * Fredric Wertham File Copy
Place Published:
Publisher:National Parent-Teacher
Date Published: 1949
Description:

[4 pp.] (Small 4to) 8½x11", wrappers. Illustrated with two black and white photographs. Very Fine or better condition, very light edge toning. Extract from National Parent-Teacher magazine, March 1949. Rare: no auction records can be found. Provenance: From the Collection of Thommy Burns, author of numerous essays for Fantagraphics's EC Artists' Library series. Mr. Burns obtained this item from the files of Dr. Fredric Wertham's Lafargue Mental Health Clinic in Harlem.
"Comic books deal with crime, murder, detailed descriptions of all kinds of felonies, torture, sadism, attempted rape, flagellation, and every imaginable kind of violence. The girls in these comic books are usually half-nude and deliberately drawn in a smutty, unwholesome way with emphasis on half-bare and exaggerated sex characteristics — over-developed breasts and so on." — Dr. Wertham.

From the archives of Thommy Burns, who says of this and the several other Wertham pamphlets in this sale: "These extremely scarce 1940s pamphlets are reprints of magazine articles by Wertham, printed up as handouts for churches, schools, and clinics to give out. All of these examples come directly from Wertham's own Lafargue Mental Health Clinic in Harlem. This a rare opportunity to own not only a piece of hard-to-find early anti-comics material, but one that came from Wertham's own files."

A limited edition of 150 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues is available. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $30, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Ten of the 15 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's December 2021 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.