So I was searching through my emails, trying to track down something or ‘nother, when I came across a promotional message sent to the ProgRuin mailboxes back in 2015. Now, I did read it at the time, but of course had no recollection of doing as such over a decade later. And frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t bring it up on the site here, because boy, this sounds interesting.
The item promoted? Why, it’s Diagram for Delinquents, a DVD documentary about Dr. Fredric Wertham:
Seems unlikely that anyone reading this doesn’t know who he is, but Dr. Wertham was a psychiatrist who worked with poor Black patients, and was influential on the overturning of several segregation laws. Oh, and also he wrote Seduction of the Innocent, a 1954 book that just full-on trashed the comic book industry, attacking the content supposedly being fed to young, impressionable children.
The DVD includes lots of period footage and new interviews with comic experts (like Mark Evanier), as well as a bonus feature of an hour-long interview with Al Feldstein. You know, Al, formerly of EC Comics, the 1950s publisher that sort of became the face of the very comics with which Wertham had problems. I’m guessing that interview is a real barn burner.
Yes, I said “guessing,” because I haven’t watched the movie yet. You can download it through the Sequart Patreon page for minimal cost, but I went to eBay and bought a physical copy there for good ‘n’ cheap.
I mean, it looks interesting:
…and for the cost, it’s nice to have this collection of material on the topic. I hope it brings up the World of Fanzines book he wrote decades later, supporting the idea of young people producing their own magazines. Hard to imagine that came from the same person who wrote this longstanding comics industry boogeyman.
Given how far behind I am on everything, I’m hoping I can get to this disc at least relatively soon. As I say in the title, I’m already 11 years behind on this, what’s another few months. What I will note is the Ain’t It Cool News quote on the cover, an interesting choice given that site was already well in its decline as a media influencer at this point. (Shockingly, the site still occasionally puts up a new article even now.)
That old email I received includes a few more pull quotes plugging this film, which includes, um, Gerard Jones. And there’s a mention of working on a documentary about Neil Gaimain. Aged well, those items have not.
Anyway, looking forward to carving out some viewing time to take this in. I think it’s also on some of the streaming sites, so you can catch it there. And maybe next time I won’t take over a decade to look, really look, at my emails.