The difference is children back then actually did see their day expand as they were removed from the workforce, making comic book consumption "free" essentially in terms of what it might have replaced just a generation previous.

Were they addicting and correlated with a spike in mental illnesses? Genuinely asking.

Because I can hardly imagine 70% of people in a train reading comic books. Guess what 70% are doing in the train in 2026?

And later you had the satanic D&D.

Every generation seems to pick their moral panic and then engages in "unintentional concern trolling" over it. The people mean well, but low quality evidence shouldn't be good enough to condemn things.