‘Think of the Children’ Reveals Secret Supernatural History of the Comics Code

File under "things we can't believe someone didn't do before" this clever new web comic by Christian Sager and E.C. Steiner, Think of the Children, which tells the secret, supernatural history of the Comics Code Authority. The hybrid horror/exploitation comic stars legendary EC Comics publisher William Gaines and his nemesis Fredric Wetham, the psychiatrist whose belief that comic books contributed to the delinquency of minors helped bring the code about. Think of the Children imagines members of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency as monster hunters who sought to destroy children who've been transformed by the evil comics.Recent news of the seal's widespread abandonment ignited curiosity in the archaic censorship standard, which was put into effect thanks in large part to the prodigious work of Dr. Frederic Wertham, whose book, Seduction of the Innocent, argued that the contents of comic books - particularly those published by EC Comics - poisoned the minds of children and led them to lives of delinquency and depravity. The infamous psychiatrist appears in Think of the Children as part of a group of monster hunters that also includes U.S. Senators.

Some sample pages:

Think of the Children is 24 pages in all, and the creators plan to produce a hardbound version sometime this year. The whole story can be read for free at comicsmakekidsevil.com.

[Via BoingBoing]