VCU news

By Tom Gresham

 In recognition of Constitution Day, David Hajdu, author of the critically praised, “The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America,” will speak on Thursday at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Hajdu will discuss his book with two noted Virginia experts of the comic arts – Tom De Haven, novelist and professor at VCU, and Thomas Inge, author and professor at Randolph-Macon – at 7:30 p.m. in the Harris Hall Auditorium, 1015 Floyd Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

“The Ten-Cent Plague” examines a period in the 1950s when content in comic books became the focus of great public concern, ultimately leading to congressional hearings. The controversy led to the comic-book industry developing a self-censorship policy known as the Comics Code Authority. Hajdu’s book explores this period and how it set the stage for future attempts to control free expression.

Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin said, “This book tells an amazing story, with thrills and chills more extreme than the workings of a comic book’s imagination.”

Hajdu, an associate professor of journalism at Columbia University, writes a monthly column for The New Republic and is the author of two other books, “Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn,” and “Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina.” Both were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

De Haven’s novels include the "Funny Papers" trilogy, which includes the novels "Funny Papers" (1985), "Derby Dugan's Depression Funnies" (1996) and "Dugan Under Ground" (2001). De Haven is also author of "It's Superman!" (2005), which re-creates Clark Kent's high school years.

Inge is a renowned expert on pop culture and the history of comic arts. He is the author of “Anything Can Happen in a Comic Strip” and editor of the three-volume "Handbook of American Pop Culture."

The event on Thursday is presented in recognition of Constitution Day, which is Sept. 17, by VCU Student Media, the VCU Division of Student Affairs & Enrollment Services, VCU Libraries, the Society of Professional Journalists – VCU Student Chapter and the VCU School of Mass Communications.