Polite Dissent

After gaining infamy for its lurid horror comics, EC Comics tried to rehabilitate its image by releasing its “New Direction” of wholesome comics. These included titles such as Valor, Aces High, and Impact as well as the medical comics M.D. and Psychoanalysis. As the name suggests, in Psychoanalysis the reader follows an unnamed pipe-smoking psychiatrist as he attempts to analyze and cure his patients.

Previous “analysis” of Psychoanalysis issues one, two, and three

For his first appointment, the psychiatrist sees Freddy Carter. Freddy is a fifteen year old who was initially brought for counseling after being caught stealing. The doctor deduced that the theft, along with Freddy’s asthma and poor grades, are really just desperate cries for attention. His parents are constantly sparring with each other — figuratively at least — with Freddy as the battleground.

The subject of this particular session is Freddy’s recent report card. Freddy is failing math and science — the classes important to his father — but doing well in English and history — classes important to his mother. In retaliation, Freddy’s father has grounded him and cut off his allowance. In addition, he has stopped giving any money to his wife other than for groceries, and he fired the maid. After talking with Freddy for several minutes, the doctor goes out to talk to Freddy’s parents who are upset that Freddy isn’t cured yet. The doctor points out that as long as the two of them are fighting, Freddy will never be cured because they each desire a different outcome. The doctor convinces the two of them that they each need psychiatric counseling for the good of their marriage and for Freddy’s sake. They both agree, and the doctor trades a single paying patient for two.

The last portion of the comic shows two sessions with Mark Stone, an unhappy screen writer. Mark has many difficulties, including problems with women, resentment towards his own success, and longstanding issues with his parents. This time, he is angry the psychiatrist because feels that he has become overly dependent on him. The doctor is able to get Mark to calm down, and then has him describe a recent dream. After hearing the dream, the doctor tells Mark that he is not mad at him, the psychiatrist, per se, but instead angry at authority figures in general — which goes back to his anger towards his father. The doctor is also able to deduce that Mark has a deep-seated fear of being abandoned, which brings out his feelings towards his mother. This has come to the surface because of the doctor’s upcoming vacation.

At a later session, Mark has once again started to experience the severe panic attacks and anxiety symptoms that brought him to the doctor in the first place. They started just a few days after Mark and the psychiatrist agreed that Mark had made remarkable progress and could cut back on his sessions. It doesn’t take a genius — or a board certified psychiatrist — to realize that this is nothing more than a subconscious reaction on Mark’s part. He is uncomfortable with the idea of cutting back on the counseling, so he recreates the symptoms that necessitated the visits in the first place. The psychiatrist is able to get Mark to realize the root of the problem, and once again Mark agrees that he doesn’t need many more sessions. This is probably a good thing as this was the final issue of Psychoanalysis.

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