Polite Dissent

Another of EC’s “New Direction” comic books, Psychoanalysis is just that: a comic book about psychoanalysis. In each issue, a pipe-smoking Freudian psychiatrist has sessions with several patients and helps them work through their problems, primarily by confrontation, dream interpretation, and free association. Miraculously, each session ends with a new revelation and deeper insight into the patient’s mind. In Psychoanalysis #3, we watch as the psychiatrist follows up with the same three patients he has treated since issue #1:

Freddy Carter is the first patient. He is a 15 year-old who was caught stealing a watch from his best friend. The psychiatrist notices Freddy reading the sports page, but Freddy denies it vociferously. It turns out that while Freddy likes sports and is actually quite good at them, he pretends to dislike them and acts clumsy to anger his father, a devoted sportsman. Disliking sports also makes his mother happy as she prefers him to focus on the finer things in life such as music, art, and poetry — endeavors his father considers only for sissies. Delving deeper, the psychiatrist discovers that Freddy is purposefully trying to drive a wedge between his parents so that his mother will give all her love to him, and their definitely seems to be some oedipal aspects to their relationship. Just like last issue, the doctor tells Freddy in no uncertain terms that it is time for him to grow up and stop acting like a child.

The second patient, Ellen Lyman, believes that she is ugly and unlikable despite the fact that she is quite beautiful and friendly. By interpreting her dream of standing before a hallway of full length mirrors in a prom dress, the psychiatrist is able to deduce that the only person who considers Ellen ugly is herself. The reason Ellen is unable to have a meaningful relationship is that she does not like or love herself. This revelation strikes Ellen like a thunderbolt and thanks to the doctor’s insight, Ellen announce that she is ready to love herself and start dating. The doctor pronounces her cured.

The final patient is Mark Stone, a successful television writer. Mark left his wallet in the doctor’s office last session and the doctor tells Mark that it struck him as strange that he has no pictures of anyone in his wallet — no family, no girlfriend. Mark tells the doctor that he hates and dislikes women, though he has no trouble attracting them.

There are four ways to charm a woman! Handsomeness…fame…money…intelligence! I’ve got three of them! The last three! That’s all I need…

Mark always breaks up with a woman as the relationship starts becoming serious. Once more using dream interpretation, the psychiatrist tells Mark that his nightmare of being chased down an alley by a cat-like car that turns into a beat-up jalopy relates to his problems with women. He sees all women as his mother, who used him as a child to get back at his father. It’s not that Mark hates women, he just hates his mother and projects those feeling onto all women. Feeling better, Mark tells the doctor that he does have a picture hidden in his wallet of a certain someone, and he thinks he’ll ask her out that night.

That’s it for issue #3. One patient cured and two more remaining. The title gets canceled after the next issue, so we have to hope the doctor is able to cure Freddy and Mark with one last appointment.

Psychoanalysis #1
Psychoanalysis #2
Previous episodes of Flashback Week.