Oh, Canada

Most of us know about the public outrage directed at comic books in the Forties and Fifties. You may have read David Hajdu's THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE, any number of newspaper and magazine articles of the era or even Fredric Werthams's SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT.

But have you ever heard a contemporary debate about the effect that comics had on children?


The Canadian Broadcasting System has a radio broadcast in their archives of a public debate about comics that was held in Nova Scotia on January 21, 1949. The sound clip only runs about seven minutes and can be acquired here:
Comic Books: Seduction Of The Innocent?

While you are on the CBC Digital Archives site, you may want to also check out this short video clip from a 1971 television show about the history of Canadian Whites:
Superheroes To Call Our Own