If it weren't for Wertham...

[Randy Jackson]

Hmm...if it weren't for Wertham, would anyone have ever thought there was anything even slightly inappropriate about the relationship between Batman and Robin?  Sexually, I mean.

[Richard Willis]

I'm not sure where it started, but for years now men have been presumed to be sexual predators against women and children. These news articles illustrate how far it's gone. If I recall correctly the man in the Daily Mail article won a substantial award in court.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243625/Businessman-Mirko-F...

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/08/should-men-sit-next-t...

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/nurse-humiliated-by-q...

[Luke Blanchard]

Robin provided the readers with the opportunity to identify with someone who gets to be pals with Batman. Boys need the attention of adult males sometimes, which is one of the reasons they need fathers. Batman wasn't Robin's father and treated him as a junior partner rather than a son (I think Batman and Robin had a very professional relationship; other kid sidekicks were more the older hero's junior buddy). Robin partly embodied the fantasy of not having to live a normal life with normal family disciplines (he attended school, but wasn't often seen doing so), and getting to live a life of adventure.

 

I think in the modern world a sexual interpretation of the hero-kid sidekick relationship would have been advanced anyway; some people find the notion humorous, presumably because they know it wasn't intended but can still connect the dots that way.

[Kirk G]

I think someone should ask Robin about this....

Perhaps Nightwing could comment as well...

[Richard Willis]

It wasn't bad enough that Wertham implied that juvenile delinquents were caused by comics, like today's bias against video games. He also skewed the evidence even further to prove his intended result. Interesting reading:

http://cbldf.org/2013/02/researcher-proves-wertham-fabricated-evide...

[Commander Benson]

If the airlines in example were so worried about the possibility of children sitting next to predators, why didn't they just move the kids? 

 

Then they would have been doing all of those men a favour.  I mean, who really wants to sit next to an immature, whiny, disruptive little creature for the length of a flight?

 

 

[Gene Phillips]

I can't recall if Gershon Legman-- who was writing fiery screeds against comics before Wertham-- specifically went after B & R. But he said things just as nasty about Wonder Woman.

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

I think a few people might have questioned it, but probably only in private conversations. He grabbed the spotlight for the subject.

[Kirk G]

Well, any woman who would tie up men with her golden rope....and force them to tell the truth...clearly that cant be healthy! LOL!

Gene Phillips said:

I can't recall if Gershon Legman-- who was writing fiery screeds against comics before Wertham-- specifically went after B & R. But he said things just as nasty about Wonder Woman.

[Captain Comics]

That's always been my interpretation as well. Wertham famously said that Batman, Robin and Alfred were a "homosexual's wish dream," if I'm remembering his peculiar wording correctly. Actually, it seems pretty obvious to me that the Batman strip -- and especially Robin -- was a 10-year-old boy's perfect fantasy. You have a cool clubhouse, no girls are allowed, you have lots of cool toys, you live a life of adventure (which, as you say, seems largely free of rules and school) and adult men treat you like an equal. Really, what 10-year-old boy doesn't dream of that?

Then adolescence comes along, and the dreams change significantly ...

Luke Blanchard said:

Robin provided the readers with the opportunity to identify with someone who gets to be pals with Batman. Boys need the attention of adult males sometimes, which is one of the reasons they need fathers. Batman wasn't Robin's father and treated him as a junior partner rather than a son (I think Batman and Robin had a very professional relationship; other kid sidekicks were more the older hero's junior buddy). Robin partly embodied the fantasy of not having to live a normal life with normal family disciplines (he attended school, but wasn't often seen doing so), and getting to live a life of adventure.

 

I think in the modern world a sexual interpretation of the hero-kid sidekick relationship would have been advanced anyway; some people find the notion humorous, presumably because they know it wasn't intended but can still connect the dots that way.

[Lee Semmens]

I am sure Wertham would have fully approved of Batman having a teenage female partner instead.

Somehow, I don't think so.

Probably, he would have been the first to condemn Batman for that!

I think Wertham was insincere, and had a dirty mind.