Brooklyn Thrill Killers

Jack Koslow, 18

Summer brings out the worst.

In the summer of 1954, four Brooklyn teenagers went on a senseless spree of violence and murder, terrorizing defenseless hobos. They beat one man to death, they beat Willard Menter, an African American, burned him with cigarettes and then dragged him for seven blocks before dumping him into the East River to drown. Several more were tortured. None were robbed. They did not know any of these people. They just fucked them up or left them to die.

These boys also admitted to horsewhipping girls in the park, and tying an old man's legs with gasoline-soaked cotton rags and setting him on fire.

None were gang members. Several were camp counsellors. They "liked athletics, played handball, swam at neighborhood pools, liked books and music." (Time, 7/30/1954)

When questioned about where they had arrived at such gruesome plots, they said they were inspired by comic books. This fact was mentioned at the Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency.

One charge was dismissed, another boy turned state's evidence. Two of the youths - Jack Koslow (18) and Melvin Mittman (17) - were sentenced to life in prison for the death of Willard Menter. The others were Robert Trachtenberg (15) and Jerome Lieberman (17).

Bizarre photo of the boys identifying the body of Willard Menter.

Sources: Time Magazine
Various disreputable websites

Seduction of the Innocent (book)

Written by Dr. Frederic Wertham and published in 1954, this text draws a straight line from comic books to juvenile delinquency.

The books of EC were obvious targets, their line of horror, disaster and war comics depicted some pretty wild and grotesque images of violence and savagery, and Dr. Wertham was not afraid to point out that horrid and gruesome illustrations were printed across the page from advertisements for bowie knifes and air rifles.

However, the good doctor also liked to point out the subliminal messages present in the graphics, with disguised images of phalluses or breasts, or the to-this-day question regarding the exact relationship of Batman and Robin.

Wertham also called Superman a Fascist. He reports, you decide.

I would like to point out to you one other crime comic book which we have found to be particularly injurious to the ethical development of children and those are the Superman comic books. They arose in children phantasies of sadistic joy in seeing other people punished over and over again while you yourself remain immune. We have called it the Superman complex. In these comic books the crime is always real and the Superman's triumph over good is unreal.

Moreover, these books like any other, teach complete contempt of the police. For instance, they show you pictures where some preacher takes two policemen and bang their heads together or to quote from all these comic books you know, you can call a policeman cop and he won't mind, but if you call him copper that is a derogatory term and these boys we teach them to call policemen coppers.

All this to my mind has an effect, but it has a further effect and that was very well expressed by one of my research associates who was a teacher and studied the subject and she said, "Formerly the child wanted to be like daddy or mommy. Now they skip you, they bypass you. They want to be like Superman, not like the hard working, prosaic father and mother."

Dr. Frederic Wertham
Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency
Wednesday, April 21, 1954

Sources:
Wikipedia
TheComicBooks.com

Nights of Horror

In 1954 the television program Superman was in its fourth season - but the first IN COLOR! Sponsored by Kellogg's and starring George Reeves, with color came a softer touch to the storylines, not exactly campy but harmless. Villains never died anymore, and when bullets were fired, they were only fired at the Man of Steel.

Meanwhile, Superman creators, the pride of Glenville High, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, were still scraping by as hired guns of the industry. They were receiving absolutely no royalties from this popular and lucrative television program.

In 1954 the salacious crime booklet Nights of Horror emerged, a small, plain brown-wrapped affair, something you could get arrested for peddling at that point in history. The work was anonymous, but the images were familiar ...

I will come right out and say it -- that's the Last Son of Krypton getting worked over by Lois Lane while Lana Lang sits back and enjoys the party. This picture is actually one of Shuster's more tame works from this particular magazine.

Night of Horrors ran for sixteen issues. During the 1954 comic book hearings of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, this title was singled out as a prime motivator for the Brooklyn Thrill Killers, a gang of Jewish Neo-Nazis (you heard me) who killed two men and tortured several others. When these boys, all teenagers, were asked where they got their ideas or what they read, they all said "comic books."

And there you have it.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster (Craig Yoe)