**
The third and final volume in Collins' thematic trilogy of comics controversies: who really owned Superman, the Al Capp/Hal Fisher fued, and now this, Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1950's crusade against comic books that ultimately resulted in the creation of the self-censoring Comics Code Authority. A roman à clef, the book turns Dr. Wertham into Werner Frederick, Bill Gaines into Bob Price, Mad magazine into Craze, and so on. And it's all about what happens when one of the players in this comic imbroglio gets murdered. It's a lightly written, occasionally amusing mystery aimed at undiscriminating fans of comic book history, people who won't mind that the heroes (Jack and Maggie Starr) may inhabit the 1950s but think and behave like people from our own 20-teens, nor that Collins takes the path of least resistance (and highest personal resonance) by casting Wertham as evil, misguided, and foolish for daring to question the suitability of some comic stories and artwork for young readers. Takes its title from Wertham's own book, unintentionally preserving its warning to the unwary.
The third and final volume in Collins' thematic trilogy of comics controversies: who really owned Superman, the Al Capp/Hal Fisher fued, and now this, Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1950's crusade against comic books that ultimately resulted in the creation of the self-censoring Comics Code Authority. A roman à clef, the book turns Dr. Wertham into Werner Frederick, Bill Gaines into Bob Price, Mad magazine into Craze, and so on. And it's all about what happens when one of the players in this comic imbroglio gets murdered. It's a lightly written, occasionally amusing mystery aimed at undiscriminating fans of comic book history, people who won't mind that the heroes (Jack and Maggie Starr) may inhabit the 1950s but think and behave like people from our own 20-teens, nor that Collins takes the path of least resistance (and highest personal resonance) by casting Wertham as evil, misguided, and foolish for daring to question the suitability of some comic stories and artwork for young readers. Takes its title from Wertham's own book, unintentionally preserving its warning to the unwary.
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