Dr. Werthless

About Dr. Werthless

He Studied Murder And Nearly Killed the Comics Industry!

From the creative team behind the award-winning “Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?” comes an examination of one of the most polarizing figures in pop culture, Dr. Fredric Wertham.

Reviled by comic book fans as a witch-hunting zealot who stirred up a panic among American parents for his own self-promoting purposes, he was also a renowned psychiatrists who, among other accomplishments, opened a clinic in Harlem for disadvantaged African-American patients and played an important role in the desegregation of the nation’s schools. 

Believing that murder could be abolished through a proper understanding of the mental and social roots of criminal violence, he took a genuinely humane approach to some of the most notorious homicidal maniacs of his time, while simultaneously exploiting their stories for his own commercial ends. 

“A compelling biography that challenges readers to reconsider their assumptions and poses provocative questions about censorship and the influence of popular culture…a rich, layered portrait of a man commonly viewed as a villain.” – Library Journal

“Dr. Werthless is an indispensable look at American history and the battle against censorship.” —David Walker (Bitter Root, The Black Panther Party: a Graphic Novel History)

Acclaimed true crime author, Harold Schechter, and multiple Eisner award winning cartoonist, Eric Powell, present a graphic novel that takes an unbiased look at this flawed and complex man whose obsessive dream of freeing the world from violence nearly murdered the comics industry.