A good biographer knows that their subject must be discussed in an unbiased manner, no matter how much visceral hatred is generated by that subject, and for many graphic novel fans, no name generates more hatred than Dr. Frederic Wertham. For the uninitiated, Wertham, a psychiatrist, led a lifelong crusade against comic books in the 1950’s, nearly putting a publishing company permanently out of business and helping bring about a Comics Code that strictly regimented what kinds of stories comic creators could publish. For many comics fans, Wertham personified oppressive censorship with a generous helping of pretentiousness. However, writer Eric Schechter and Eric Powell once again demonstrate how to look at all facets of a person’s life, even the most notorious persons, in this biography of Dr. Wertham called Dr. Werthless.
Dr. Wertham accomplished a great deal in his lifetime. He was the first doctor to open a clinic in Harlem where he treated many disadvantaged African-American patients, as well as testified in a pivotal court case that helped finally end segregation in American schools. Believing violence could be eliminated if its causes were isolated, Wertham zeroed in on what he felt was a major cause of violence and delinquency among youth: crime and horror comics. After putting EC comics in Congress’s crosshairs, Wertham devoted much of his life to attacking comics as a whole with a zeal that bordered on fanatical and ultimately tarnished his reputation.
In Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, Schechter and Powell looked at the life of Ed Gein, a man known to craft furniture from human remains. Like Gein, Wertham, though less reprehensible, exists as a kind of bogeyman in the mind of comic book fans and Schechter gives Wertham’s story the same unbiased treatment, looking at who he was along with the sum total of his achievements, particularly Wertham’s study of depraved criminal acts which are as horrifying and salacious as any comic story he railed against. He depicts Wertham as a man who became a victim of his own hubris, a doctor who began his crusade with noble intentions but was sabotaged by his penchants for sensationalism and self-aggrandizement.
Those who are familiar with Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? will recognize the style of Eric Powell’s artwork from that book, even as it looks quite different from his Goon comics. The men and women in this book favor a more realistic approach to facial structure and anatomy while the black and white shading gives his illustrations depth. The face that comes closest to Goon’s exaggerations is Dr. Wertham’s, a face as thin and angular as an Easter Island statue’s.
While lacking the true crime sensationalism that drew readers to Ed Gein’s story, Dr. Werthless is still a worthy purchase for adult library collections with a robust biography section. Wertham, in this book, falls between a villain and a tragic figure, a man dedicated to humanity who eventually lost his way.
Dr. WerthlessÂ
By Eric Schechter
Art by Eric Powell
Dark Horse, 2025
ISBN: 9781506744360
Company Age Rating:Â 16+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
