Wasn’t familiar w/the comic book backstory from this time period, I guessed it right before the reveal ( )

My biggest beef with this book is that it was published under the Hard Case Crime label, and no crime takes place in the first half of the story! How is that "hard-boiled crime fiction"? What this book is is a fictionalized account of comic book trials in the 1950's. And reading the "Tip of the Fedora" after the story made me think that an actual non-fiction book about the same topic might actually be interesting! But this book just seemed like an author taking a subject of interest to him, and trying to make a "crime" story out of it. Unsuccessfully, in my opinion. ( )

Seduction of the Innocent is a title taken right from Frederic Wertham's book crusading against the evil influence of comic books. Dr. Wertham's book challenged the comic book industry for its
depictions of violence, drug use, etc. and argued that it was a cause of juvenile delinquency. Wertham eventually appeared before Senator Kefauver's Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.
Collins' book is a fictionalized account of that time and of Wertham's fight with the comic book industry. It is a clever parody of Wertham, who in Collins' book is Dr. Werner Frederick. Collins takes the
fictionalized story and expands it into a novel that is not only set in the fifties, but conveys the feel and tone of a hardboiled novel of the time.

Jack Starr and his father's widow, Maggie, run a publisher that syndicates comic strips for newspapers across the country. One of the comic writers that they work with has volunteered to testify before the
Subcommittee following Dr. Frederick. Jack, who is a private eye with a
license to carry, has as part of his functions, getting his writers and
artists out of trouble. So he accompanies the witness. The first part of the story is a little slow in getting going as it is
concerned with the minutiae of who is who in the comic book industry. The second part really gets going with murder, mobsters, femme fatales, and bare-knuckle brawls. The book is great, although it varies a bit from the usual Collins' work.
( )

Found as 2014 Shamus Award Finalist. Large series. Stopped reading. Unexpected and uninteresting. Subject of comic books influencing children. ( )

Murder mystery that takes place in the 1950's during the height of the war on comics. This is a good mystery by the always reliable Max Allan Collins. It mixes history with a mystery and is very successful. Highly recommend. ( )