Thursday, October 25, 2007

This is a psychiatrist!

"This is a psychiatrist! Into his peaceful, tastefully-decorated, subdued office come the tormented and the driven, seeking to unravel the tangled emotional skeins that cloud and knot their broken lives... "



When I came across this Psychoanalysis Flickr set (via Dadanoias) I was curious what the stories were about so I did a bit of Googling...

During a tide of public concern about the effect of comics on children, in 1955 EC Comics created a series of new 'more wholesome' titles. One of which, was a four part comic series about psychoanalysis.
The public concern was largely in response to the views of psychiatrist Fredric Wertham. He argued, in his book Seduction of the Innocent, that the gaudy comics of the time were a major cause of juvenile delinquency
- Mind Hacks

Of these, the subject—sorry, the partner—with whom LGBT readers are most likely to relate is poor Freddy Carter, a freckle-faced fifteen-year-old kleptomaniac whose mom calls him a victim and whose dad calls him a sissy. Well, unless the most current definition of metrosexual is "unbalanced, spider-fingered, and whinier than David Gest after an unanesthetized facelift," we're going to go along with dad on this'un, junior. But this is Prism Comics—we don't judge! Even if you end up liking girls, Freddy, you'll be okay in our book. But you'll still be a sissy.
- Prism Comics

Although every patient is much better by the end of their session, the psychiatrist reminds the reader that they’ll be able to check back in on the patients in the next issue of Psychoanalysis. The series only lasted four issues, so I hope the patients didn’t need long term counseling.
- Polite Dissent

5 comments:

Ogg the Caveman said...

Murst!

The series only lasted four issues...

Somehow I'm not surprised. I doubt that you could make a series like that be interesting, be "more wholesome", fit the comic book format, and appeal to the usual comic book readership all at once.

Hmm... I bet the blonde on the cover of the first issue has a hot ass. Maybe if they showed it in fishnets... that's still wholesome, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Why does ogg always take murst first? He should take first, first, then I could have murst. ::grimace:: [/whine]

Ogg the Caveman said...

Just for you, Edgar, I'll settle the issue in the future by taking first *and* murst. Better?

Anonymous said...

You are a bully ogg, but I have the Charles Altas program on order. Better watch your step cave man.

Ogg the Caveman said...

What's that, Edgar? You want me to kick atlases in your face? *shrug* Whatever floats your boat.