Comic Book History Recommendations

[BarryAllen]

Gents and Ladies:

 

I am attempting to broaden my horizons (comic knowledge) and would like recommendations on good books about comic history. No limitations, but it is a plus if the book can be found at Barnesandnoble.com ( I have a coupon).

 

Any and all recommendations welcome!

 

 

[Number 6]

Ten-Cent Plauge

 

Men of Tomorrow

 

Both are excellent, the first deals more with censorship, culminating with EC/Senate hearings fiasco. The second deals with the mob's involvement in the birth of the comic industry as well as the Superman legal battle.

[Porcelain Monkey-migration]

The Ten Cent Plague by David Hajdu

Marvel Comics the Untold Story by Sean Howe

Superman by Larry Tye

The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Phiffer

[DWL]

All good suggestions so far.

 

Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones is actually pretty interesting.

[zosocane]

For Golden and Atomic Age, try:

 

The Steranko History of Comics, Volumes 1 and 2, by Jim Steranko.

 

For a good history behind how Stan Lee cooked up the Marvel line-up of super heroes in the early 1960s, try:

 

Origins of Marvel Comics by Stan Lee

Son of Origins by Stan Lee

[Ken Aldred]

Comics : Between The Panels, by Mike Richardson and Steve Duin.

 

Great book.

[Tony S]

For Golden and Atomic Age, try:

 

The Steranko History of Comics, Volumes 1 and 2, by Jim Steranko.

 

For a good history behind how Stan Lee cooked up the Marvel line-up of super heroes in the early 1960s, try:

 

Origins of Marvel Comics by Stan Lee

Son of Origins by Stan Lee

 

+1 for me on these suggestions. Some of the others mentioned I think are better read AFTER reading these books. And with the Steranko books you'll have something worthy of framing when you are done reading them.

 

Also, go to a used book store and get a copy of "All in Color for a Dime", the grandfather of all the books published about comic books.

[Ken Aldred]

There's also the 'Comic Book Comics' mini-series by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, now in collected edition format as 'The Comic Book History of Comics'.

[John R]

This thread may have some other books not mentioned here.

[BarryAllen]

This thread may have some other books not mentioned here.

 

Great add, thanks!

[BarryAllen]

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations so far, looks like some good books I hadn't heard of!

 

 

[ComicConnoisseur]

This by the late D.W. HOWARD.

He was right on just about all the keys.

This book was written before CGC and EBay.

Highly recommended.

[MrDeafComics]

Amazing adventures of kavalier and clay?

 

Going to buy this soon.

 

Story of 2 men in golden age who meet each other and decide to embark on a comic book journey as a writer and artist.

 

Not sure if its fiction or actual story.

[Number 6]

Amazing adventures of kavalier and clay?

 

Going to buy this soon.

 

Story of 2 men in golden age who meet each other and decide to embark on a comic book journey as a writer and artist.

 

Not sure if its fiction or actual story.

 

It's fictional, but based in alot of ways on Simon and Kirby.

 

If you want to pay the Media Mail postage you can have my paperback copy.

[MrDeafComics]

Amazing adventures of kavalier and clay?

 

Going to buy this soon.

 

Story of 2 men in golden age who meet each other and decide to embark on a comic book journey as a writer and artist.

 

Not sure if its fiction or actual story.

 

It's fictional, but based in alot of ways on Simon and Kirby.

 

If you want to pay the Media Mail postage you can have my paperback copy.

 

Wow very nice of you sir!

[tilleycs]

A book I want to read at some point:

 

"Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate" by Rick Bowers

 

(I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it, but it's a real book.)

[Ares]

Seduction Of The Innocent

[BarryAllen]

Seduction Of The Innocent

 

Wow, this is interesting.

 

Great suggestion!

[BarryAllen]

A book I want to read at some point:

 

"Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate" by Rick Bowers

 

(I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it, but it's a real book.)

 

Its definitely real! I googled it and saw mixed reviews.

 

Anyone on hear read it and like it?

[cloudofwit]

Here's a couple books I have...but haven't read yet. (They may well have surfaced in that previous link but don't know for sure.):

 

"Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code" by Amy Kiste Nyberg (1998)

 

"Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture" by Bart Beaty (2005)

 

Both books were published by the University Press of Mississippi in Jackson. ( Let's hear it for the South...surely some progress since that haunting song, "Mississippi ")

 

Just the last 2 sentences of the back cover blurb for the Wertham book sound inviting:

 

"Frederic Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture is a fresh perspective that reinterprets his intellectual legacy, and challenges notions about his assumed cultural conservatism. Drawing upon Wertham's published works as well as his heretofore unresearched and unpublished private papers, correspondence, and notes, Beaty reveals a critic who was significantly more progressive and multifaceted than his reputation would suggest."