All Known Golden Age
SOTI Comic Books |
| | Title | Issue | Notes | |
 | A1 Guns of Fact and Fiction | 13 | Mentioned in text, p. 19. |
| All-Famous Crime | 9 | Illo #13 with caption, "The wish to hurt or kill couples in Lovers' Lanes is a not uncommon perversion." |  |
 | All-Top | 14 | Illo #27 with caption, "Corpses of colored people strung up by their wrists." |
| Almanac of Crime | NN [1948] | Contains a 16-page story, "Cattle Kate," which also appeared in Women Outlaws #1 July, 1948. This story provided the seventh illo in SOTI, with the caption, "Giving children an image of American womanhood." |  |
 | Authentic Police Cases | 3 | Illo #26 with caption, "Outside the forbidden pages of deSade, you find draining a girl's blood only in children's comics."; also used in text, p. 161 and 181 (both of which are not mentioned in Overstreet). Although this reprints Red Seal #16, it is likely that Wertham read this book and not Red Seal #16 because the SOTI page 161 reference does not appear in Red Seal #16. This is another instance where Wertham misquoted a comic. The text piece he cites is called "Lessons In Larceny", but Wertham calls it "Lessons For Larceny." See it all HERE! |
| Authentic Police Cases | 6 | Illo #6 with caption, "An invitation to learning." This story was printed at least three times by St. John. Read about it here. |  |
 | Batman | 53 | Mentioned in text, p. 236 |
| Batman | 64 | Used in SOTI, page 191. "The atmosphere is homosexual and anti-feminine. If the girl is good-looking she is undoubtedly the villainess. If she is after Bruce Wayne, she will have no chance against Dick. For instance, Bruce and Dick go out one evening in dinner clothes, dressed exactly alike. The attractive girl makes up to Bruce while in successive pictures young Dick looks on smiling, sure of Bruce." |  |
 | Batman | 67 | Possible use in SOTI, pp. 190-191: "Like the girls in other stories, Robin is sometimes held captive by the villains and Batman has to give in or 'Robin gets killed.'" |
| Beware | 12 | Mentioned in text, p. 388. |  |
 | Beware | 6 | Illo #12 with caption, "Children are first shocked and then desensitized by all this brutality." |
| Beyond | 27 | Mentioned in text, p. 111. |  |
 | Black Cat Comics | 27 | Mentioned in text, p. 193. |
| Black Cat Mystery | 36 | Mentioned in text, pp. 270-271. |  |
 | Black Cat Mystery | 39 | Mentioned in text, pp. 386-388. |
| Blue Beetle | 54 | Illo #20 with caption, "Children call these 'headlights' comics." |  |
 | Blue Beetle | 56 | Mentioned in text, p. 145. The page Wertham cited was reprinted in Murder Incorporated #9. It's unclear which comic Wertham was citing. |
| Brenda Starr | v2#4 | Mentioned in text, p. 21. |  |
 | Bugs Bunny Four Color | 250 | Mentioned in text, p. 309. |
| Captain Marvel | 101 | Mentioned in text, p. 87-88. |  |
 | Captain Video | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 382. Read about it here. |
| Chamber of Chills | 7 | Mentioned in text, p. 389. |  |
 | Classic Comics Robinson Crusoe | 10 | Mentioned in text, p. 142. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |
| Classic Comics Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde | 13 | Mentioned in text, p. 143. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |  |
 | Classic Comics Uncle Tom's Cabin | 15 | Mentioned in text, pp. 102, 103. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |
| Classics Illustrated Great Expectations | 43 | Mentioned in text, p. 311. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |  |
 | Classics Illustrated Mysteries of Paris | 44 | Mentioned in text, p. 323. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |
| Classics Illustrated The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | 50 | Mentioned in text, p. 37. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |  |
 | Classics Illustrated Silas Marner | 55 | Mentioned in text, p. 311, 312. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |
| Classics Illustrated Julius Caesar | 68 | Mentioned in text, p. 36, 37. Read more at our Classics Illustrated page. |  |
 | Crime and Punishment | 2 | On the cover, a thief steals from a blind newsdealer. Possible SOTI book. |
| Crime and Punishment | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 112 |  |
 | Crime and Punishment | 12 | Metioned in text, p. 21-22 |
| Crime and Punishment | 16 | From SOTI, pp. 98-99: "When I pointed out the hypocrisy of the Crime does not pay slogan and its bad effect on children, the industry accused me of "unfairness" in attacking their highest endeavors and introduced some more slogan morality. In one comic book are two pages by a police captain attacking me: 'Don't let reformers kid you!' He is 'shocked by what I read today about the people who condemn crime comics. These people are the menace.' He goes on: 'Children don't like to be kicked around by reformers who want to decide what's good for them to read.' And he extols 'the strong moral force' that comics exert on children." See also Crime Does Not Pay #76, and read the details here . |  |
 | Crime and Punishment | 59 | Illo #4 with caption, "What comic-book America stands for." |
| Crime Can't Win | 10 | Possible use in SOTI, p. 161 |  |
 | Crime Clinic | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 18 |
| Crime Detective | 9 | Illo #15 with caption, "Caricature of the author in a position comic-book publishers wish he were in permanently." Also used on p. 16. |  |
 | Crime Does Not Pay | 63 | Issues 63, 64- Possible use in SOTI, p. 306 |
| Crime Does Not Pay | 64 | Possible use in SOTI, p. 306 |  |
 | Crime Does Not Pay | 76 | From SOTI, pp. 98-99: "When I pointed out the hypocrisy of the Crime does not pay slogan and its bad effect on children, the industry accused me of "unfairness" in attacking their highest endeavors and introduced some more slogan morality. In one comic book are two pages by a police captain attacking me: 'Don't let reformers kid you!' He is 'shocked by what I read today about the people who condemn crime comics. These people are the menace.' He goes on: 'Children don't like to be kicked around by reformers who want to decide what's good for them to read.' And he extols 'the strong moral force' that comics exert on children." See also Crime and Punishment #16, and read the details here . |
| Crime Files | 5 | Mentioned in text, p. 4 |  |
 | Crime Reporter | 2 | Illo #25 with caption, "Children told me what the man was going to do with the red-hot poker." |
| Crime Smashers | 1 | Illo #20 with caption, "A girl raped and murdered." Also used in text pp. 19-20. |  |
 | Crime SuspenStories | 19 | Mentioned in text, p. 235 |
| Crime SuspenStories | 20 | Illo #10 with caption, "Cover of a children's comic book." |  |
 | Crimes By Women | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 234 |
| Crimes By Women | 10 | Mentioned in text, p. 72 |  |
 | Dagar, Desert Hawk | 19 | Mentioned in text, p. 180 |
| Dagar, Desert Hawk | 21 | "Bombs & Bums Away" panel in "Flood of Death" used in SOTI, page 104. The page number is not noted in Overstreet. |  |
 | Diary Loves | 31 | Used in SOTI, p. 40. "In one love comic a demonstration is given of how to steal a 'very expensive gown, Paris original' from a department store: 'I'll slip it on in the dressing-room. They won't notice me! I'll put it in that box and walk out, while the saleslady is busy with someone else! ... I walked out, trying to keep calm, trying to look and act natural ... Nobody has seen me! Ohh! If I can only reach the door!'" |
| Doll Man | 38 | Used in SOTI, p. 388. "A man provides murder victims for his wife, who drinks their blood. He grabs a newsboy for her and she says over his bound body: 'His throat is as white and soft as a swan's! So tender and youthful!'" |  |
 | Dynamic Comics | 17 | Illo with caption, "Children told me what the man was going to do with the red-hot poker." |
| Eerie Adventures | 1 | Mentioned in text, pp.317-318. |  |
 | Exposed | 6 | Illo #28 with caption, "How to prepare an alibi." |
| Exposed | 7 | Illo #29 with caption, "Diagram for housebreakers." Breaking in or out? Read about it here. |  |
 | Famous Crimes | 1 | Story used in SOTI, p. 234. "Where in any other childhood literature except children's comics do you find a woman called (and treated as) a 'fat slut'?" It's unclear whether Dr. Wertham read this story in this book or in Phantom Lady #16. |
| Famous Crimes | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 112. Injury-to-the-eye motif. |  |
 | Famous Crimes | 7 | Mentioned in text, p. 44 |
| Famous Crimes | 19 | Story used in SOTI, p. 96. "In many subtle and not so subtle forms the lynch spirit is taught as a moral lesson. Many children have told me that lynching is all right and have shown me examples from their comic books. In one such story the townspeople get together, hunt the criminal and he is finally shot and killed. The lesson is in the last sentence: 'The story of Lee Gillon proves that fearless people banded together will always see that justice triumphs.' In the same book, a man slaps a girl's face and says: 'Give me trouble and you'll have a board full of spikes smashed into your kisser!' ". |  |
 | First Love Illustrated | 35 | Illo #30 with caption, "The title of this comic book is First Love." |
| For A Night of Love | nn | Mentioned in text, p. 185 |  |
 | Frontier Romances | 1 | Illo #8 with caption, "Erotic spanking in a children's comic book." Overstreet indicates this was mentioned generally on p. 180. Page 180 reads: "In Western comic books, the erotic spanking of a girl by a man is frankly featured.” |
| Frontier Romances | 1 | Illo #8 with caption, "Erotic spanking in a children's comic book." IW Reprint, reprints original Frontier Romances #1. |  |
 | Frontline Combat | 4 | Mentioned in text, p. 257 |
| Fugitives From Justice | 3 | Illo #6 with caption, "An invitation to learning." Reprints story from Authentic Police Cases #6 with new title and modified art. This story was printed at least three times by St. John. Read about it here. |  |
 | Gang Busters | 3 | Illo with caption, "Comic-book map for crime." |
| Giant Comics Editions | 4 | Illo #9 with caption, "Outside the forbidden pages of deSade, you find draining a girl's blood only in children's comics."; also used in text, p. 181. Re-packaging of Red Seal #16. |  |
 | Harvey Comics Library | 1 | Mentioned in text, p. 27. Teen-Age Dope Slaves, which reprints a series of Rex Morgan, MD newspaper strips. |
| Haunt Of Fear | 17 (#3) | Mentioned in text, p. 43 |  |
 | Haunt Of Fear | 19 | Illo #1 with caption, "A comic book baseball game. Notice the chest protector and other details in the text and pictures." |
| Haunt Of Fear | 23 | This comic is no longer incorrectly listed in Overstreet as SOTI book. |  |
 | Hopalong Cassidy | 5 | Mentioned in text, pp. 308-309, although Wertham read this story in the Bond Bread giveaway, "Hopalong Cassidy and the Mad Barber." |
| Hopalong Cassidy & the Mad Barber (24 pg. edition) | nn | Used in SOTI, pp. 308,309 |  |
| | Hopalong Cassidy & the Mad Barber (16 pg. edition) | nn | Used in SOTI, pp. 308,309 |
| Howdy Doody | 6 | Mentioned in text, p. 309 |  |
 | Hunted | 13 | Illo #16 with caption, "Treating police contemptuously." This one-issue title was also mentioned in text p. 42. |
| Ideal, A Classical Comic | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 310. Overstreet erroneously lists this as p. 308. |  |
 | Inside Crime | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 182, 183. Reprinted in Spook #24. It's unclear which of these books Wertham was referencing. |
| Jon Juan | 1 | Mentioned in text, p. 38. |  |
 | Journey Into Fear | 15 | Mentioned in text, p. 389 |
| Jungle Comics | 98 | Illo #18 and #19 with caption, "In ordinary comic books there are pictures for children who know how to look." Also used in SOTI's text, p. 185 |  |
 | Justice Traps the Guilty | 13 | Mentioned in text, p. 110-111. |
| Justice Traps the Guilty | 58 | Illo #14 with caption, "Treating police contemptuously." |  |
 | Kewpies | 1 | One of the "lost SOTI" books that has been found. Now listed as SOTI reference in Overstreet due to the efforts of SeductionOfTheInnocent.org. |
| Kid Colt, Outlaw | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 112. Injury-to-the-eye motif. |  |
 | Killers | 1 | Mentioned in SOTI, pgs 179, 180 |
| Law Against Crime | 3 | Illo with caption "The wish to hurt or kill couples in Lovers' Lanes is not an uncommon perversion. " Also mentioned in text, pp. 181. Overstreet erroneously indicates that this is also on p. 180. P. 181 states, "One picture shows a couple in an automobile, both the young man and the girl with blood streaming all over their faces from bullet holes in their heads. In the story the murderer was never caught." |  |
 | Lawbreakers Always Lose | 7 | Illo #3 with caption, "Comic-book philosophy." |
| Martin Kane | 4 | Mentioned in text, p. 160. This reprints the story from Murder Incorporated #8 that Wertham mentioned. It's unclear which book Wertham was citing. |  |
 | Meet Corliss Archer | 1 | Title mentioned in text, p. 39, with the indication, "Adolescent boys call these headlight comics." |
| Meet Corliss Archer | 2 | Title mentioned in text, p. 39, with the indication, "Adolescent boys call these headlight comics." |  |
 | Meet Corliss Archer | 3 | Title mentioned in text, p. 39, with the indication, "Adolescent boys call these headlight comics." |
| Mr. Risk | 2 | Used in SOTI, p. 144. "Spelling in comic books is often faulty. 'The Case of the Psycopathic [sic] Lady' is not good for children in either content or spelling. " |  |
 | Murder Incorporated | 8 | Mentioned in text, p. 160. This story was reprinted in Martin Kane #4. It's unclear which book Wertham was citing. |
| Murder Incorporated | 9 | Mentioned in text, p. 145. This story reprints the page from Blue Beetle #56 that Wertham referenced. It's unclear which comic Wertham was citing. |  |
 | My Life True Stories in Pictures | 4 | Mentioned in text, p. 39 |
| Mysterious Adventures | 11 | Mentioned in text, p. 84. |  |
 | Nightingale | nn | Mentioned in text, p. 312-313. |
| Nyoka | 26 | Used in SOTI, p. 32. "Quite apart from its sadistic groove, the imagination expressed in comic books is mechanical rather than in any way creative. For instance, in a jungle book with the subtitle 'The Jungle Girl,' the 'Satanic Dr. Zanzere ... transplants a pair of bat's wings onto a tiger.' The rest of this book is the usual parade of invitation to sadistic perversion, race hatred and violence for violence's sake. What about the 'emotional release' a child is supposed to get according to the defenders of the comic-book industry? One story concludes with a close-up of a fist holding a gun and these words: 'A gentle squeeze of the trigger and the last breath of life will be squeezed out of Nyoka! Read on for Part Three of The Treasure of the Tiger's Paw.' " |  |
 | Out of This World Adventures | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 120. Not listed in Overstreet as SOTI. This is another of Wertham's errors. He incorrectly attributes a quote by the book's hero to its heroine. |
| Perfect Crime | 11 | Mentioned in text, p. 159. |  |
 | Peter Penny and his Magic Dollar | nn | Mentioned in text, pp. 310, 311. Read more about it! |
| Phantom Lady | 16 | Story used in SOTI, p.234. However, it's unclear whether Dr. Wertham saw this story in Phantom Lady #16 or Famous Crimes #1, where it appeared a few months later. "Where in any other childhood literature except children's comics do you find a woman called (and treated as) a 'fat slut'?" |  |
 | Phantom Lady | 17 | Illo #4 with caption, "Sexual stimulation by combining 'headlights' with a sadist's dream of tying up a woman." |
| Planet Comics | 53 | Mentioned in text, p. 32. Another of Wertham's errors: the word "mate" in the comic is quoted as "maid" by Wertham. |  |
 | Public Enemies | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 95 |
| Rangers | 38 | Possible use in SOTI, p.231. Although Rangers #38 isn't an exact match for this quote, it is the closest one that has been identified so far. "On the floor under his open hand lay a comic book with this cover: a girl on a horse with a noose around her neck, the rope tied to a tree. A man was leading the horse away, tightening the noose as he did so." |  |
 | Real Clue | v3#3 | Mentioned in the text, p. 23-24 |
| Real Clue | v3#9 | Mentioned in text, p. 102 |  |
 | Real Life Comics | 58 | Mentioned in text, p. 310. |
| Red Seal Comics | 16 | Illo #9 with caption, "Outside the forbidden pages of deSade, you find draining a girl's blood only in children's comics." Also used in text, p. 181. |  |
 | Reform School Girl | nn | Illo #37 with caption, "Comic books are supposed to be like fairy tales." Also mentioned in text, p. 358. |
| Rulah, Jungle Goddess | 21 | Mentioned in text, p. 388, 389 |  |
 | Rulah, Jungle Goddess | 22 | Mentioned in text, p. 22, 23 |
| Sensation Comics | 81 | Mentioned in text, p. 33, 34 |  |
 | Shock SuspenStories | 4 | Mentioned in text, p. 387, 388 |
| Spook | 24 | Mentioned in text, p. 182, 183. Reprint of Inside Crime #2. It's unclear where Wertham saw the story. |  |
 | Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated | 6 | Mentioned in text, p. 22, 143 |
| Story of Harry S Truman | nn | Mentioned in text, p. 311 |  |
 | Strange Adventures | 39 | Illo #15 with caption, "Treating police contemptuously." |
| Strange Mysteries | 10 | Mentioned in text, p. 181 |  |
 | Strange Worlds | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 112. Injury-to-the-eye motif. |
| Super Duck | 22 | Mentioned in text, pp. 35, 307, 308. This is a perfect example of Wertham's hypocrisy. On page 28, Super Duck is called without sarcasm one of the "harmlesss ones". Then on pages 35 and 307-308, he cites its harmful content. |  |
 | Superboy | 2 | Mentioned in text, pp. 35-36, 226 |
| Superman | 55 | Mentioned in text, p. 33 |  |
 | Tales of Horror | 6 | Possible use in SOTI, p. 161 |
| Tegra, Jungle Empress | 1 | Mentioned in text, p. 31 |  |
 | Terrifying Tales | 15 | Mentioned in text, pp. 22,23. This reprints story from Rulah #22. It's unclear which book Wertham was citing. |
| Terrors of the Jungle | 17 | Mentioned in text, pp. 388-389. This reprints story from Rulah #21. It's unclear which book Wertham was citing. |  |
 | Tex Morgan | 9 | Mentioned in text, p. 30 |
| Thing | 9 | Illo #33 with caption, "Stomping on the face is a form of brutality children learn early." Also mentioned in text, p. 388. |  |
 | T-Man | 4 | Used in SOTI, p.284. "One of the worst crime comics boasts: 'Distributed in over 25 countries throughout the world!' - while a picture on the opposite page shows a U.S. Federal Agent knocking a man down with a rifle butt to the words: 'Boy, that's the sweetest sound on earth.'" |
| Tom Mix Western | 9 | Mentioned in text, pp. 323-325. Overstreet incorrectly implies that Tom Mix #10 is mentioned in SOTI. However, #10 was not referenced in SOTI. |  |
 | Top Secrets | 7 | Illo #21 with caption, "How to hurt people." Also used in text, p. 90. |
| Trapped! | 0 | Mentioned in text, pp. 256, 350 |  |
 | True Crime Comics | v1#2 | Illo #11 with caption, "Pity was the keynote when Homer described dragging a dead body behind a chariot. Dragging living people to death is described without pity in children's comics." Also illo #13 with caption, "A sample of the injury-to-the-eye motif.". Also used in text, pp. 81, 82. One story was reprinted in True Crime v2#1, and Wertham saw the story in both places. |
| True Crime Comics | v1#4 | Overstreet notes this as a SOTI book. That information appears to be incorrect. |  |
 | True Crime Comics | v2#1 | Illo #11 with caption, "Pity was the keynote when Homer described dragging a dead body behind a chariot. Dragging living people to death is described without pity in children's comics." Also used in text, pp. 81, 82. One story was reprinted from True Crime v1#2, and Wertham saw the story in both places. |
| True Love Problems and Advice Illustrated | 11 | Mentioned in text, pp. 185-186. |  |
 | Tween Age Digest | 1 | Not a comic book per se, but a magazine with a comic section. From pages 120-121 of SOTI: A similar children's magazine, Tween Age Digest, at twenty-five cents, also looks like a regular magazine, but has comic-book sections. One of these is a supercondensed comic-book version of Don Quixote. You see him lying on the ground: "The servants beat Don Quixote mercilessly and although he swore vengeance he was helpless as a beetle on his back." |
| Underworld | 2 | Mentioned in text, p. 95 |  |
 | Wanted | 12 | Mentioned in text, p. 277 |
| Wanted | 29 | Used in SOTI, p.32. "So we carefully followed developments. In a crime comic that came out after the code had been in existence for some time [Note: this refers to the ACMP code.], a representative specimen of this group shows: killing; a policeman knocked out with the usual smart contemptuous wisecrack: 'I can't stick around to explain, copper!'; a man shot in the stomach; a woman mugged and then killed with a hammer to get her pocketbook; blood; the up-to-date ending of one murder story: 'Archer Frize didn't die in the electric chair! The state psychiatrists found him to be insane!'; detailed instructions about how to hold up a big grocery store; and a brutal murder story with the murderer not caught by the law, but dying by accident. (In the story murder is called a 'mistake': 'I knew it! They all make mistakes!') " |  |
 | Wanted | 35 | Mentioned in text, p. 160 |
| Web of Evil | 1 | Mentioned in text, p. 388 |  |
 | Weird Fantasy | 16 | Mentioned in text, p. 144 |
| Weird Mysteries | 7 | Illo #35 with caption, "Indeed." Also illo #36 with caption,"Sex and blood." |  |
 | Weird Science | 19 | Illo #22, #23, #24 with caption, "A young girl on her wedding night stabs her sleeping husband to death with a hatpin when she realizes that he comes from a distant planet and is a 'mammal'." |
| Western Adventures | 3 | Mentioned in text, p. 30, 31. An example of the injury-to-the-eye motif. |  |
 | Wild Boy of the Congo | v1#10 | Mentioned in text, p. 189 |
| Witches Tales | 20 | Possible use in SOTI, p.389. "One man kills his wife with a poker." |  |
 | Women Outlaws | 1 | Illo #7 with caption, "Giving children an image of American womanhood." |
| Wonder Woman | 49 | Mentioned in text, p. 234, 236 |  |
 | World's Finest Comics | 44 | Mentioned in text, pp. 9, 190. |
| X-Mas Comics | 6 | One online resource says this contains a rebound Captain Video #1 and #2. Another online resource indicates that this was printed concurrently with the books contained in it, and it is not a rebinding of other books. Either way, this book contains Captain Video #2 and is therefore a SOTI book. |  |
 | Your United States | nn | Mentioned in text, pp. 309, 310. This book had several versions, although only one is mentioned in Overstreet. Read about it here . |
| Zoot | 14 | Mentioned in text, p. 104. |  |
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