Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/68

56 Senator. Like the Union News Co.?

Mr. . Yes.

Senator. Is that true generally of the crime-book publishers? Do they have their own distributing companies?

Mr. . No, I would not say it is the usual practice, although it is not unique, either.

Senator. Do some of them own retail outlets?

Mr. . No, sir; they do not to my knowledge.

Senator. That is all, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

The. Mr. Clendenen, the name "comic book" is certainly a misnomer, is it not, as we apply them to these publications?

Mr. . These are not funny.

The. That is the term by which they are designated throughout the land, is it not?

Mr. . Right.

The. Mr. Hannoch?

Mr. . Do you expect to say anything further at this time on the question of low these comics are distributed, what the general system of distribution is?

Mr. . No, sir; I had not intended to. We have both distributors and dealers scheduled to appear here, Mr. Hannoch.

Senator. Humor after all is a variable, is it not, Mr. Clendenen?

Mr. . Yes, indeed.

Senator. Humor is not an absolute. Some people think Charles Adams' macabre drawings in the New Yorker magazine are very funny. Others think they are not.

When I was a boy some people thought Little Nemo was funny. Little Nemo frightened other children.

Alice in WonderlandLewis Carroll was said to have written it for the little girl. It also seemed to me to be an adult book. As a child I can understand not liking any of it and the drawings frightened me because they were dark and I thought very dreary.

So again we get into all this question of relative humor, what is funny to one person or one group of people, or even as to nations. We have made fun of the British and their jokes m London Punch for years. Some of the British think they are very funny. Some of our people think they are funny and doubtless some of their people don't think they are funny.

It is a little ridiculous to talk about things being humor per se. It is all in the eye of the beholder, after all.

Mr. . Yes.

On the other hand, I would say the comics, the one I presented show- ing Friseo Mary who empties the machine gun into the prostrate law ofticer and Mary finally ends up dying in the gas chamber, you know there may be humor in this particular situation, but I myself would not recognize any humor.

The. It is a weird type of humor, is it not?

Mr. . It would be to me, Senator.

Senator. I was interested in what Mr. Clendenen had to say as a social worker, or expert, relative to the fact that the larger number of these horror books are found in areas where the children are less able to take them, that is, in areas I take it where there is high