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The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
The TenCent Plague The Great ComicBook Scare and How It Changed America
Author: David Hajdu
In the years between the end of World War II and the mid-1950s, American popular culture was first created in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. But no sooner had comics emerged than they were beaten down by mass bonfires, congressional hearings, and a McCarthyish panic over their unmonitored and uncensored content. Esteemed cri...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780312428235
ISBN-10: 0312428235
Publication Date: 2/3/2009
Pages: 456
Edition: 1
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 8

3.4 stars, based on 8 ratings
Publisher: Picador
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
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Top Member Book Reviews

sevenspiders avatar reviewed The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America on + 73 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
What a wonderful book about a terrible waste and shameful time in American history. Hadju traces the rise of comics from the puckish newspaper funnies through the creation of the superhero pantheon, the diversity of comic book genres and the eventual painful demise under the censorship and revilement of the late 1950s society. I learned so many things from this book. What a tragedy that all those creative and talented writers and artists, most from minorities who were rejected from mainstream and "high" art were villified.

'Ten Cent Plague' shows an image of America at its best and worst; as a land that fostered the rise of an industry of great originality and intelligence and as a society of people so desperate for a scapegoat that adults and children both rounded up and burned thousands of comic books less than 10 years after the fall of the Nazis.

This was a fascinating, well-researched, immensley engrossing book and a vital reminder of the dangers of assigning blame to any one artist or medium.
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "The TenCent Plague The Great ComicBook Scare and How It Changed America"


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