History of Comics

AlbertCampion

So, after listening to the Jack Kirby episodes, I have a hankering to read more about the history of comics. I may have posted this before on the previous version of the forums, so please forgive me if this has come around before. I read Sean Howe's book on Marvel a few years ago and the Comic Book History of Comics, but what are some other suggestions? Evanier's bio of Kirby? The Power of Comics by Randy Duncan and Matthew Smith? Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones, if it's okay to separate the man and his work. I tried a few issues of Alter Ego about Otto Binder and the DC/Fawcett lawsuit, but was disappointed. What are some of your favorite comic book books?

Thanks

mwhitt80

Are you looking for specifically Marvel?

If you want to read an interesting history of DC twomorrows did a three part article on Major Malcolm Wheeler. He was one of the original National/DC founders. It was great, and you can get it digitally for $3.95

Twomorrows Marvel comics in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in the book section.

Twomorrows Image the Road to Independence is a great book of interviews by a lot of from a lot of the early Image creators. @nweathington it's been a few years can you put some pressure on the higher-ups to get a part 2?

I would also recommend The 10¢ Plague by David Hajdu.

mwhitt80

I forgot, if you want to read a fun bunch of interviews from the early comic podcasters try The Comic Book Podcast Companion from twomorrows

nweathington

mwhitt80 said:

@nweathington it's been a few years can you put some pressure on the higher-ups to get a part 2?

So noted, though I know George isn’t interested in doing it himself.

mwhitt80

There are some very interesting interviews to be had with guys like Kirkman (RtI was pre-tv show and becoming partner), Greg Rucka, Brian K Vaughn, Jason Aaron, Kelly Sue, Hickman, Zub, , Remender, Millar. That's just a handful of the writers.

matchkitJOHN

mwhitt80 said:

Are you looking for specifically Marvel?

If you want to read an interesting history of DC twomorrows did a three part article on Major Malcolm Wheeler. He was one of the original National/DC founders. It was great, and you can get it digitally for $3.95

Twomorrows Marvel comics in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in the book section.

Twomorrows Image the Road to Independence is a great book of interviews by a lot of from a lot of the early Image creators. @nweathington it's been a few years can you put some pressure on the higher-ups to get a part 2?

I would also recommend The 10¢ Plague by David Hajdu.

I cosign on 10 cent Plague. It's been awhile since I read it but it was a good read as I remember.

nweathington

mwhitt80 said:

There are some very interesting interviews to be had with guys like Kirkman (RtI was pre-tv show and becoming partner), Greg Rucka, Brian K Vaughn, Jason Aaron, Kelly Sue, Hickman, Zub, , Remender, Millar. That's just a handful of the writers.

Oh, I know. It’s not a question of potential material.

Torchsong

I'm addicted to the fun stuff coming from Quirk Books of late:

http://www.quirkbooks.com/book/league-regrettable-superheroes

http://www.quirkbooks.com/book/legion-regrettable-supervillains

http://www.quirkbooks.com/book/spectacular-sisterhood-superwomen

The first two are fun looks at some of the lesser known and perhaps not so heroic (or villainous) characters throughout the history of comics. The third book (which I'm reading now) don't look at also-rans but more the forgotten influences that female characters have had for decades now.

All excellent reads.

mwhitt80

There are number of good histories on Wonder Woman (those are bat poop crazy)
Les Daniels - Complete History of Wonder Woman is very good and Les was a great golden age specialist.

Seth Kushner - Leaping Tall Buildings This is a fantastic book of interviews and photographs that were originally found on Graphic NYC website (no longer available).

Will Eisner - Eisner/Miller An older book of conversations between two comic masters.

AlbertCampion

Thanks everyone. Since I enjoyed Sean Howe's book, I thought something similar about DC's history would be interesting.

nweathington

mwhitt80 said:

Seth Kushner - Leaping Tall Buildings This is a fantastic book of interviews and photographs that were originally found on Graphic NYC website (no longer available).

Seth is the photographer—really talented guy who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. Chris Irving, who worked with me on one of my Modern Masters books, conducted the interviews.

mwhitt80

nweathington said:

mwhitt80 said:

Seth Kushner - Leaping Tall Buildings This is a fantastic book of interviews and photographs that were originally found on Graphic NYC website (no longer available).

Seth is the photographer—really talented guy who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. Chris Irving conducted the interviews.

That's right. I always associate graphic NYC and leaping tall buildings with Seth . His photos are great, and I really recommend that book. I really didn't mean to short credit to Chris Irving.

mwhitt80

Here's a few more books.
Superheroes by Maslow & Kantor - this is the companion book to the PBS documentary ( which is also good) on the creation of Superheroe Comics.

Marvel Chronicles ( DC has a version too) - which is a year by year of Marvel publishing.

nweathington

mwhitt80 said:

Superheroes by Maslow & Kantor - this is the companion book to the PBS documentary ( which is also good) on the creation of Superheroe Comics.

I've got a review copy of this. Haven't read it yet, but a skim through felt pretty much like it was just the bare-bone basics.

mwhitt80

It is, but it's not a bad place to start when you are getting into comics history. I would not recommend it for someone who has an extensive knowledge, but for an introduction and place to jump off it's a great start. It also has lots of pictures.

I would also like to point you to the WordBalloon podcast.

David_D

I want to add myself to those recommending The Ten Cent Plague. And, of course I read it years before the more recent news on Gerard Jones, so I didn't have to separate the writer from the material, but I also found Men of Tomorrow very informative.

nweathington

To be honest, I have not read either The Ten-Cent Plague or Men of Tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on them.

Hex

I found Brad Ricca's Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to be a great read about the men behind the "Man of Steel", as well as the comic book industry at the time.

David_D

nweathington said:

To be honest, I have not read either The Ten-Cent Plague or Men of Tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on them.

I don't know that I would recommend them to you, as I don't think you'd need them. A lot of it is a primer on the history of comics and publishers, including (more emphasis on the Men of Tomorrow) the gangsters at the start and (more on the 10 Cent Plague) the history and fallout of Wertham. As someone who grew up immersed in comics as content, but who was short on the history of the medium prior to my time as a consumer, I found these books to be useful. But I don't know that you would.

nweathington

David_D said:

nweathington said:

To be honest, I have not read either The Ten-Cent Plague or Men of Tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on them.

I don't know that I would recommend them to you, as I don't think you'd need them. A lot of it is a primer on the history of comics and publishers, including (more emphasis on the Men of Tomorrow) the gangsters at the start and (more on the 10 Cent Plague) the history and fallout of Wertham. As someone who grew up immersed in comics as content, but who was short on the history of the medium prior to my time as a consumer, I found these books to be useful. But I don't know that you would.

Yeah, I've looked through the bibliographies, and for the most part I've either read their source material, or read the source material for their source material. I know, or am at least acquainted with, most of the people in the acknowledgements of Ten-Cent Plague.

phansford

Hands down the best I've ever read....

Stop what you are doing and BUY THIS BOOK!

Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America by Bradford Wright.

Wright does an excellent job explaining how comics are tied to our culture.

Brack

Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt is still a good history of the origins of manga even 34 years on.

His Dreamland Japan provided a companion piece in the 90s.

AlbertCampion

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions; I'll definitely peruse these. I'd kinda hoped for a post by @wildpigcomics. I'd love to know what's on Chris' bookshelf.

[Deleted User]

AlbertCampion said:

So, after listening to the Jack Kirby episodes, I have a hankering to read more about the history of comics. I may have posted this before on the previous version of the forums, so please forgive me if this has come around before. I read Sean Howe's book on Marvel a few years ago and the Comic Book History of Comics, but what are some other suggestions? Evanier's bio of Kirby? The Power of Comics by Randy Duncan and Matthew Smith? Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones, if it's okay to separate the man and his work. I tried a few issues of Alter Ego about Otto Binder and the DC/Fawcett lawsuit, but was disappointed. What are some of your favorite comic book books?

Thanks

Don't give up on Alter Ego... I have about 50 issues and there's some TERRIFIC stuff, there... particularly if you love transcribed interview with guys who have seen it all. I would say pick issues that feature characters or creators you are interested in. Also, the magazine quite often delves into the silver age, not always the golden age.

Also, Comic Book Artist is a fantastic magazine with mostly more contemporary artists and writers... maybe 70's to 90's... Twomorrows still has back issues of that one.

[Deleted User]

Comic Book Fever, also by Twomorrows, is excellent, if you're into the 70's and 80's. It's really fun.

nweathington

Tonebone said:

Comic Book Fever, also by Twomorrows, is excellent, if you're into the 70's and 80's. It's really fun.

Glad you liked it!

Peter

Great thread! Always looking for more history reference books.

Including many already listed above, my reference library includes:
Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels
DC Comics : Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels
Comics: A Global History, 1968 to the Present by Dan Mazur and Alexander Danner
Comic Wars by Dan Raviv
The Comic Book History of Comics, by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey
Super Boys, by Brad Ricca
Kirby King of Comics by Mark Evanier
Great American Comic Books by Ron Goulart
Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe also by Ron Goulart

And tons of Twomorrows books, especially the Back Issue! line.

I'm sure I'm missing many more.