Eric Powell and Harold Schechter on Dr. Werthless

If you’re a comic book reader like we are, around the same time you learn about Batman and Robin, you’re introduced to the medium’s scariest boogeyman, Dr. Fredric Wertham. The publication of his Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 thrust Wertham into the popular consciousness, sparking hysteria and moral panic, hindering the medium’s growth, and significantly harming the artists who worked within it. We assumed that Harold Schechter and Eric Powell’s latest true crime collaboration would roast Wertham viciously, but Dr. Werthless is far too good a work to be an attack. Schechter and Powell reveal a much more complicated character, one who devoted years of his life to the Civil Rights movement and experienced tremendous horror while working with some of this nation’s most notorious human monsters. Eric Powell, the creator of The Goon, knows a thing or two about this art form and how it can stir an intense reaction from “concerned citizens.” The era in which Wertham’s book dominated boob tube conversation does not feel too far away from 2025, as politicians charge against graphic novels and libraries. The concerns around what stories can be told and who should be telling them indicate their power to influence and broaden our perspectives beyond the tiny universe within our eyeline. The desire to police narratives stems from fear and a need to control. If someone tells you not to read a book or watch a movie, you must read that book and watch that movie. As you’ll hear, we had a wonderful time chatting with Harold Schechter and Eric Powell about Dr. Werthless. We discuss comic books’ greatest boogeyman and all the complexities that brought him to write Seduction of the Innocent. We dig into this medium’s power, the artists who were hurt by Werthem’s attack, and how it all relates to what we’re seeing around us today. Also, we may argue about what is and is not a comic book. Fun stuff! Dr. Werthless is now available as a hardcover from Dark Horse Comics. You can find more information on the comic by visiting Powell's site or Schecter's site. You can find Eric Powell on Bluesky and Instagram, and Harold Schechter on Facebook HERE. This Week's Sponsors We're sponsored by 2000 AD, the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10. Do you want in on the biggest secret in comics today? IDW Publishing’s Godzilla line of books is comics' greatest secret weapon. They’re constantly snagging rockstar creators like James Stokoe, Tom Scioli, Andrew MacLean, Louie Joyce, Jake Smith, Eric Powell, Rosie Knight, and Oliver Ono to unleash their talents on cinema’s most significant kaiju universe. And this July, IDW is taking their Godzilla books to the next level by introducing the Kei-Sei era. This new shared universe line begins with Godzilla #1 by Tim Seeley and Nikola Čižmešija. There’s a new Godzilla design, a mess load of Kaiju antagonists…and protagonists - plus, superpowered human characters. Thanks to IDW Publishing, it’s a good time to be a fan of the Big G and quality comics. In stores this June, Oni Press proudly presents a science fiction icon’s unlikely return to existence in Benjamin #1 - a new, prestige format limited series from Philip K. Dick Award winner Ben H. Winters and artist Leomacs. Do you remember the work of acclaimed novelist Benjamin J. Carp? Across more than 44 novels and hundreds of short stories, Carp established himself as a counterculture revolutionary. He died in 1982, after years of Southern Californian excess finally claimed his life...until 2025...when Benjami