.

It’s a long post, and one of my favorites for its winding but connected (at least I think so) narrative.

2. Alas… we have returned. The crew has returned from our L.A. adventure where we interviewed five great subjects that will certainly make compelling contributions to the documentary.

We began with Broadcast Thought at Meltdown Comics, followed them with Jim Trombetta, and cleaned up with Mark Evanier, then headed to the UCLA Film and Television Archive to view footage that we will acquire for the picture. I must say, my socks have been knocked off by what I saw there!

This week’s update teaser is a little excerpt from comics writer, journalist, and historian Mark Evanier.

The inspiration for this clip is Wertham’s thoughts on the life and legacy of comics. In Seduction of the Innocent, Wertham makes this particularly erroneous prediction:

I have known many adults who have treasured throughout their lives some of the books they read as children. I have never come across any adult or adolescent who had outgrown comic-book reading who would ever dream of keeping any of these “books” for any sentimental or other reason.

Again, I have responded to this particular statement in an earlier blog post. It’s another of my favorites. The title comes from what is perhaps my favorite “Werthism.” Check out Diagram for Delinquents Update #6: Kafka for the Kiddies.

Mark has a simple, but elegant response to Wertham’s above remarks: