Books on the History of Comic Books you have read or own in your collection!

[bminor]

I was wondering what books people have read about the history of comics that they may have read in the past  that they could recommend to others?
I myself have had a couple of in my collection that i consider to be really good.
The first I check out from my local library way back in the early 70's "All in Color for a Dime" by Don and Maggie Thompson. This book was the first to introduce me to the golden age of comic books and what it must have been like back in the golden age!
A great read, a must read for sure.

2. "The Great Comic Book Hereos" by Jules Pfeifer. Again in the mid 70's, picked up at a local used book store. This early edition had reprints of all the golden age hereos that he talks about. Apparently there is a more recent printing, minus the reprints that is somewhat readily available.

3. Steranko History of Comics Volumes I and II. Only two produced from his projected 10 volumes set? Absolutely wonderful books I have read these to death, over and over again! I have sent Steranko pleading that he finish this set. It would be wonderful to behold.

Anyone else out there have any ideas on books?
B.

[Yoc]

Hi B,
Your three were all on my list as well.  I'd also recommend Roy Thomas' Alter-Ego magazine and the Back Issue magazine.
The most recent history book I've read that I think is just amazing Creeping Death From Neptune - a Wolverton bio (Fantagraphics)(2015) that has some incredible finds from his life back to childhood drawings. I highly recommend it.

-Yoc

[darkmark (RIP)]

Read a batch of them.  Gerry Jones's and Will Jacobs's  COMIC BOOK HEROES must be read.  Also read Ron Goulart's big book, plus Gerry's MEN OF TOMORROW, THE COMIC-STRIPPED AMERICAN, and a bunch of more specialized books.

[misappear]

Comic book history books are plentiful, tracing the motivations of the original "packagers" and the creative talent that developed the genre.  A trip to the library will provide those background details in any number of competent histories.

I would recommend backing up some years and digging into the history of comic strips as well.  The personal vision of the strip authors/artists provides a dimension that often gets lost in the production line process of comic books.  I find the divergence of strips and comic books starting in the 1930s very interesting and informative in a study of the broader comics genre.  I believe that the differences (artistically, culturally) between, say, and 1950 comic book and a 1950 newspaper strip is easily a field of study in itself.

Regarding comic books specifically, two pieces I've read which are standouts to me are David Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague and William Savage's Comic Books and America 1945-1954.  Both pieces reflect on the transition of comics from child-centered war-time propaganda to much larger (and grittier) glimpses at the changing American society and an increasingly maturing readership.  These works are pretty representative of my sentiment that the real "Golden Age" of comics was post WWII to the comics code.  So much diversity of content it's hard to believe.

[Yoc]

If you are willing to stray away from fact into fiction the Pulitzer winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) by Michael Chabon collects a lot of the more well known stories from behind the scenes into a very good novel.

I agree Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague is very good but there are some twisting of data here and there that he's gotten criticised for.  But still very worth the read.  Easily one of the best IMO.

I'm told the book on LB Cole Blacklight is a beautiful collection if you can find it.

-Yoc

[SuperScrounge]

I've actually reviewed my books over at NitCentral.

But for those who don't want to slog through my attempts at reviews...

100 Years Of American Newspaper Comics, Edited by Maurice Horn - good

Batman: The Complete History by Les Daniels - nice

Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History by Ron Goulart - nice, but not as good as his other books

Comic Book Rebels by Stanley Wiater & Stephen R. Bissette (book of interviews) - good

DC Comics: Sixty Years Of The World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels - good

The DC Vault by Martin Pasko - good

The Essential Guide To World Comics by Tim Pilcher & Brad Brooks - interesting

Foul Play! The Art And Artists Of The Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics! by Grant Giessman - good

From Aargh! To Zap!: Harvey Kurtzman's Visual History Of The Comics by Harvey Kurtzman - okay

Great American Comic Books by Ron Goulart - nice

The Great American Comic Strip: One Hundred Years Of Cartoon Art by Judith O'Sullivan - okay

Hong Kong Comics: A History Of Manhua by Wendy Siuyi Wong - nice

Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades Of The World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels - good

The Marvel Vault by Roy Thomas & Peter Sanderson - good

The Pirates And The Mouse: Disney's War Against The Counterculture by Bob Levin - okay, but could have been better

R. F. Outcault's The Yellow Kid by Bill Blackbeard - nice

Science Fiction Comics: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton - nice

Space Aces!: Comic Book Heroes From The Forties And Fifties! by Denis Gifford - okay

Superhero Comics Of The Golden Age: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton - nice

Superhero Comics Of The Silver Age: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton - nice

Superman: The Complete History by Les Daniels - nice

Will Eisner’s Shop Talk by Will Eisner (interviews) - good

Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels - nice

[erwin-k]

Have not seen this book in well over forty years, but it was the first comic history book I ever saw.

Comic Art in America by (Steven?) Becker

[mopee167]

Yoc, I wanted to like Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000), I really did. But whereas the Steranko History of Comics Volumes I and II painted the Golden Age as a difficult but exciting time, Kavalier & Clay just made it all seem so depressing.

The Wolverton bio (Fantagraphics, 2015) sounds interesting. I may have to check it out.

Same with Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague. Can someone expound on the twisting of data?

Les Daniels’ 3 Complete History books are worth a look. Superman and Batman are good;
Wonder Woman is the best and most informative.

Mike Benton’s The Illustrated History series is good. Wish it would have continued beyond the five volumes into other genres.

Ron Goulart’s Great History of Comic Books (Contemporary Books, 1986) is probably the best single volume history of the medium.

Goulart’s Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History (Collectors Press, 2000) is, as Keith said, not as good as his other books. It’s got some pretty pictures, but it propagates the myth that R. Patenaude was a woman.

And I agree with darkmark that Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones is well worth the read.

[Yoc]

Hi M,
As I recall it Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague, he had a list of all the artists driven out of comics by the CCA which some, better informed than I, took dispute with.  That's the only one I recall off the top of my head.  If you Googled the title plus reviews you might find some more.  But I say again, it's a very, very good book to read.  Up there with Men of Tomorrow.

I've just started reading Comics through Time, (4 Volumes) A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas by M. Keith Booker.
It's covering from the first books on to very recently.  Over 2000+ pages in the four volumes.

-Yoc

[crashryan]

Yoc, Comics Through Time looks like it might be interesting, but when I followed the link I found that it wasn't free--it was offered as an e-book for a mere $375! A bit rich for my pocketbook.

Mopee, it seemed to me that Kavalier and Clay was written by an angry author who wanted to address the injustices of the early days of comics. On the other hand Steranko talked to people who actually lived through those times. I'm sure his fannish enthusiasm for the subject brought out their nostalgic side. Besides, of all the interviews I've read with Golden Age creators, only a few seem to have completely negative memories of their days in the industry. in his Graphic Story Magazine interview Harry Harrison told outrageous stories about being cheated by Victor Fox, but he could still laugh about it.

It makes a difference too that those guys were so young. When my friends and I were trying to break into illustration  forty years ago we were stiffed, underpaid, and mistreated by clients. We hated it, and we fought and we griped. But most of the BS just rolled off our backs and became dinner-party stories. It was easier to say "what the heck" when your expenses were low, your ambitions were high, and you had a bunch of friends in the same boat.

[Yoc]

I didn't get the feeling that Michael Chabon was overly angry in his C&C book but I guess we can see it different.  I did have fun spotting the different stories he pulled together for the book.  Jim Steranko himself was an influence.  If you can find Jim's books they are a fun read.  Like many I wish he had continued with the series.

-Yoc

[tilliban]

I strongly and highly recommend

COMICS BETWEEN THE PANELS

by Steve Duin and Mike Richardson. Came out at Dark Horse in 1998.
Still available for order there https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/92-443/Comics-Between-the-Panels-HC
or at Amazon, I guess.

It's made up like an encyclopedia, but is done with a lot of fun and tells us the most wondrous stories about artists, dealers, collectors, comic book characters and so on...
This is really THE book for insiders, folks.

And if you dig the gory and trashy horror mags of the 70s, Mike Howletts's

THE WEIRD WORLD OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS

is excessively researched, beautifully done - and a milestone of comics history.
Have a "look inside" on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Weird-World-Eerie-Publications/dp/1932595872

[bminor]

And of course Evanier's"

"Kirby - King of Comics"

Also the the two disc special edition of the Fantastic Four movie from ten years ago a nice Kirby documentary.

B.

[Crimson-Blue-Green]

I have "The Comic Book Heroes" by Will Jacobs and Gerald Jones from 1985. I was a bit disappointed when I recently skimmed through it to find it focused mostly on DC and Marvel. I understand an updated edition was publushed in the 1990s. I haven't read that version.

I also have "The Encyclopedia of Superheroes" by Jeff Rovin, also from 1985. This book has a couple factual errors but is a mostly good resource for reading brief bios of all sorts of characters. I discovered heroes such as The Clock, Shock Gibson (listed twice by accident as The Human Dynamo and in the late arrivals section), Doctor Nemisis, Cat-Man and I boned up on my history of The Blue Beetle (all versions up to that year). 

[Yoc]

I've just started reading 'Jackie Ormes : the first African American woman cartoonist' by by Goldstein, Nancy from 2008.
If you don't know about her there is a site on her here - http://jackieormes.com/

-Yoc