Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: bminor on January 27, 2016, 08:41:36 AM
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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I've actually reviewed my books over at NitCentral (http://nitcentral.philfarrand.com/cgi-bin/discus/board-auth.cgi?lm=1329035546&file=/7449/24479.html).
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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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).
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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
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What is the deal on Steranko and his History of Comics?
I thought it was supposed to be 10 volumes. He did just two, and they are great!
Anyone have any insights on the remaining books?
I tried writing to him once and find out, but no reply.
B.
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I think it's likely safe to say they were never made.
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Jim's just been putting it off, sad to say.
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You might enjoy The Comic Book History of Comics (2012) by Fred Van Lente (http://tinyurl.com/zj9uuqv). A good and often funny read.
-Yoc
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Just got these this year, read them
Superman Ultimate Guide PB
Marvel Year by Year A Visual Chronicle, Updated and Expanded (1939-2013)
Pretty in Ink : American Women Cartoonists (Not read yet)
Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist (about half way through)
Black Comics: Politics Of Race And Representation (about to finish)
And from the past
Marvel Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels (1970s)
Anyone into comics would enjoy I'm sure.
Death of Dracula Marvel (reading on last story)
Fantastic Four Civil War Marvel (next on my reading list after finishing off the above)
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Hello,
I'm a first-time poster, but consider me a lifelong comics fan (who still has his collection neatly plastic-bagged away in his storage unit).
As someone who first got into comics in the early seventies, my knowledge was shaped by the relative handful of books that had been published up to that point. I was quite a precocious kid, perusing library card catalogs and ordering volumes via interlibrary loan. Many I eventually bought as an adult; most of these that appear on this list I actually own.
The earliest books about comic books? Well, I'm reaching back into my memory here, but here's what was published prior to 1980. All are hardback with dust jacket unless otherwise noted.
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The Great Comic Book Heroes -- Jules Feiffer, Dial Press, 1965 -- the granddaddy of them all, really an interpretive essay with reprints of early stories.
All in Color for a Dime and The Comic Book Book -- Don Thompson, Dick Lupoff, Arlington House, 1970 and 1973 -- I ran across the Ace paperback reprint of the first book at age 10, on a Glacier Park vacation in 1972, and I devoured it cover to cover.
The Steranko History of Comics, Volume 1 (1970) and Volume 2 (1972) -- Jim Steranko, Supergraphics -- utterly invaluable. Tabloid size, paper covers.
Comix: A History of the Comic Book in America -- Les Daniels, 1971 -- probably the first attempt at a comprehensive history in a single volume.
Horror Comics of the '50s -- Nostalgia Press, 1971 (This was the first reprint of EC comic books -- high quality color reproduction in tabloid size.)
Superman From the 30s to the 70s, Batman From the 30s to the 70s -- Crown, 1971, later reprinted by Bonanza
Wonder Woman -- Ms. Books, 1972
The Mad World of William M. Gaines -- Frank Jacobs, Lyle Stuart, 1972
Origins of Marvel Comics (1974) / Son of Origins of Marvel Comics (1975) / Bring on the Bad Guys (1976) -- Stan Lee, Fireside Books. Trade paperback.
The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 1, Batman -- Michael Fleischer, Collier, 1976. Trade paperback.
The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume 2, Wonder Woman -- Michael Fleischer, Collier, 1976. Trade paperback.
The Great Superman Book (Volume 3 of series) -- Michael Fleischer, Warner, 1978. Trade paperback.
Superman: Last Son of Krypton -- Elliot S. Maggin, 1978 (originally published as a paperback movie tie-in by Warner, this was reprinted in an exclusive hardcover edition with dust jacket by the Science Fiction Book Club.)
A special note should be made of Russ Cochran's slipcased black-and-white EC reprint series, which apparently started in the '70s -- I certainly never ran across it in bookstores, and I wasn't aware of it until the early eighties.
There were only a handful of titles published earlier than these. Ballantine reprinted the run of Mad comics in paperback form, Signet (later Warner) reprinted Mad magazine in paperback, and all titles remained in print for years. Signet also published a series of Batman reprints in paperback during the 1966 Batman boom. Superman From the '30s to the '70s mentioned George Lowther's 1943 novelization of Superman, apparently printed on unobtanium, available from no library via interlibrary loan, and inaccessible until it was reprinted circa 2000. In the '70s, the Spokane Public Library still had a well-thumbed copy of the immortal Seduction of the Innocent, by Frederic Wertham. And by searching through the library government-depository archive, I was able to find an original printed copy of the transcript of the 1954 hearing of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, featuring William Gaines' defense of good taste in horror comics.
There were also a number of books devoted to comic strips, including Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Buck Rogers, Krazy Kat and Little Nemo.
This was literally everything there was, back in the days before comic book stores, when you could still buy a new comic for a quarter at the 7-Eleven.
Quite a contrast to today -- my local comics shop has thousands of hardcover and softcover books on the shelves, both graphic novels and prose works. And here's a funny thing -- I was having a cup of coffee with one of my co-workers at the state Capitol in Olympia, and he mentioned, "You know, when I was a kid, there was a book that had quite an impact on me, called 'Batman From the '30s to the '70s'..." I nodded. I understood.
Erik Smith
Olympia, WA
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As a collector who discovered comics fandom in 1964, here are a few of the histories that fired up my 11 year old fanboy brain.
The Guidebook To Comics Fandom 1964: It contained a list of all superhero comics that started before 1945 and a short history of the comic book.
The Great Comic Book Heroes: I ordered this the minute I heard it was coming out. Then I suffered in agony for over a month waiting for delivery. I still have that copy.
Rockets Blast Special # 5 The Stars of Star Spangled Comics from 1965. I still have this one in all it's mime-graphed glory.
Rockets Blast Special # 6 1966 The History of Quality Comics Nuff Said!
Raymond Miller's 3 volumes of illustrated biographical sketches of Golden Age Heroes 1966-67
Everything Jerry Bails published in the 1960's
There's lots more, but those are some of the histories that got me started
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The latest book I've just finished reading last month was The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore - which came out in 2014 but I only just found. I already knew some of the basics about the unusual real life story behind WW's creator Dr William Moulton Marston but this book really digs into the late Victorian era of his birth tying into the influences of the Suffragette movement, the fight for birth control and Marston's own belief that women would one day rule the world. Before Marston created WW he had a very checked career. After he graduated from Harvard (where he helped develop the systolic blood pressure test used for lie detection) he pursed the goal of being a court recognized expert on lying (with very bad results for his first appearance in court). A bit of a grifter (depending on the financial support of the two 'wives' he lived with) he bounced around from job to job always trying to drum up good publicity often calling his own news conferences and handing out photos for news agencies. All the publicity helped him eventually land the job with All-American (DC) where he finally debuted his Wonder Woman stories. But the trip to getting there is just as interesting as the stories themselves. And all those bondage scenes on almost every page of each story? Of course there was complaints but the man truly believed his own b.s. on the subject and managed to keep them in despite all the uproar.
For anyone interested not just in the history of comics but the history of America and fight for the rights of women I think you will definitely enjoy this one.
Some online blurbs on the book - https://scholar.harvard.edu/jlepore/publications/secret-history-wonder-woman
-Yoc
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Superman: Last Son of Krypton -- Elliot S. Maggin, 1978 (originally published as a paperback movie tie-in by Warner, this was reprinted in an exclusive hardcover edition with dust jacket by the Science Fiction Book Club.)
I have the sequel to this book, "Superman: Miracle Monday". In fact I did a book report on it in the ninth grade! The theme was "pick a book about a hero you like". Most people picked a real person but I asked the teacher for permission to write about Superman and he said it was okay. :)
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Here's a few more to add to the list:
American Comic Book Chronicles by various writers
The Silver Age Sci-Fi Companion
The Comic Journal Library Volume 10:t The EC Artists by Fantageraphics Books
The Life and Legend of Wally Wood #1`edited by Bob Stewart & J. Michael Patron
Wood Work Wallace Wood 1927-1981 by IDW
The Secret History of Marvel Comics by Bell/Yassallo
More food for Thought!
Geo
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Someone mentioned Stephen Becker's Comic Art in America (which I believe came out in 1962, as my parents gifted me with a new copy for my 12th birthday). A great book, very well written with lots of reprinted comics. It barely touches on comic books, but is a masterful overview of comic strips.
Another fine book which no one has mentioned, but which is worth seeking out, is Coulton Waugh's The Comics (1947, MacMillan). Very detailed run-through of many classic comic strips and cartoonists, though its coverage of comic books in the final chapter is minimal and disappointing. Waugh drew the strip "Dickie Dare" for ten years, FWIW. The main weakness of the book is that there are fewer illustrations of strips he is talking about than would be ideal. Still, this is a classic. (It looks like it was reprinted in 1991, but even that edition is pricey on Amazon. Keep an eye out for it.)
Finally, a great book, not previously mentioned is Cartoon Cavalcade edited by Thomas Craven (1943, Simon and Schuster) described on it's front cover dj as A Collection of the best American humorous cartoons from the turn of the century to the present. This is a finely selected anthology of comic strips and gag cartoons ranging from the old days of humor magazines (such as Life, Puck, and Judge) on through the evolution of comic strips and gag cartoons (New Yorker, etc.) Just great stuff. The repro of the art is not as good as it would be now (they didn't have high resolution scanning back then and photostats of halftone shading sometimes leave something to be desired). Nevertheless, its a vast collection (450pp.) I see this is up on Amazon in used copies at really reasonable prices...amazing prices, really. Conditions tend be in the "acceptable" range, but if I didn't still have my own copy, I'd probably spring for one of those.
As far as comic book histories go, the best history (copiously illustrated) of UG comix is Patrick Rosenkranz's Rebel Visions (2008, Fantagraphics). It's a bit chaotic, bouncing back and forth between artists and time periods, but I think he mostly gets things right, though some of the later artists and women cartoonists get short shrift.
As for golden and silver age comics history, Roy Thomas's Alter Ego and various books from TwoMorrows Publishing deserve a shout out. Top quality and research.