COMICS HISTORY BOOKS: Compare and Contrast these 3 Books on the Silver Age

CageNarleigh

Ok so I'm OBSESSED with the Silver Age of comics. Love it. BUT, I can't decide which of these three supposedly very good books on the subject to get. I HOPE to own all three at some point but, if it doesn't happen, I'd like to know I've got some good stuff out of just the one I own.

SO...

The options are.

'The Silver Age of DC Comics' by Paul Levitz (Hardcover)



'American Comic Book Chronicles 1960-64' by John Wells, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko (Hardcover)



'The Silver Age of Comics' by William Schoell (Paperback)



Price isn't a factor here. Just content. I know that the American Comic Book Chronicles splits the Silver age into two volumes. Doesn't bother me. If I end up with that one, I'll end up getting the other eventually. And I know the first one ONLY covers DC, but I AM a DC nut. So I'm kinda torn. Anyone have ANY experience with these?

CaptShazam

The Levitz book is beautiful. It is one part of the massive 75 years of DC book. Each age is being released on its own in a more manageable size. Hopefully the bronze age book gets released next year.

Lots of beautiful pictures of art produced in the best I have ever seen on high quality paper. Each picture usually has a paragraph or two devoted to it. This is not the book to get if you want an in depth history of the silver age. It is the book to get if you want to see a lot of silver age art reproduced in the best way possible with chunks of info thrown in.

I cannot speak to the other two.

nweathington

As CaptShazam said, Paul’s book is a little light on the text, but it’s great as far as visual artifacts go. It's the type of book you only read once, but that you go back to regularly just to flip through the images.

I haven’t read The Schoell book, but just looking through the sample pages on Amazon, it appears to have very little artwork, and the text is more in the form of capsules about characters, settings, and themes/tropes of the comics—a sort of Who’s Who type approach with a bit of commentary. Probably not the way to go if you're interested in the behind-the-scenes, but I can't say that for sure given the small sample.

The ACBC volume goes year by year through comics history, spotlighting not just what was going on in the comics themselves, but the creators, and the industry as a whole. It may not be as chock-full of artwork as Paul’s book, but it’s got its fair share. Definitely the way to go if you want a more comprehensive history book.

Full disclosure, in case you don't know, I work for TwoMorrows, though I had nothing to do with any of the ACBC volumes. That being said, I think you'll be happy with either Paul’s book or the ACBC volume. It just depends on if you're looking more for a museum coffee table type of book, or for a more time-intensive reading type of book.

(In case it makes a difference, TwoMorrows is running a sale this month with all books and magazines 50% off.)