This is for reviews of books about comic books, comic strips, comic companies, comic writers & artists, etc. Even how-to books telling you how to draw, write, publish (although I'll admit I'm a little worried that someone might try to review all the thousands of How To Draw Manga titles out there. ;-)

Just to start it off...

The Golden Age Of Comic Books: 1937-1945 by Richard O'Brien, Ballantine Books 1977
This book was created to show off Comic Book covers of the Golden Age & reproduces 40 covers in color. For some reason Marvel chose not to let any of their covers be used, but there is a very nice assortment of covers from other publishers.
Sadly one or two covers don't reproduce that well, but the rest come off fine, although I did wonder at some of his choices for good covers.
Text is limited, but it did give some information about artists & Centaur Comics that my other reference books lacked.
I like it, but the thinness of the book & the limited text keep me from recommending it unless you can find a cheap copy. (I got mine at half-price at a used-book store.)

The Great American Comic Strip: One Hundred Years Of Cartoon Art by Judith O'Sullivan, Bulfinch 1990
Interesting, but flawed. There's some nice biographical info on various comic people, like George Harriman, Winsor McCay & others, but the history part tends to meander. For a book on Comic STRIPS the author does spend a surprising amount of time examining Underground Comic BOOKS. Okay, but nothing special.

From Aargh! To Zap!: Harvey Kurtzman's Visual History Of The Comics by Harvey Kurtzman, Prentice Hall Press 1991
Kurtzman tries to give a history of comics, but with the exception of his favorite comics & comics he was involved with his knowledge is a bit thin. This is not to say that it's a bad book, but as history of comics go there are more in-depth books out there. As a biography of Kurtzman & the comics he worked on it's great.
This 14.75 x 11" 96 page book tends to be a bit of a pain to hold. The one nice thing about the size is that the reduced size reproductions of various comic pages & covers are big enough to see & read.
Several short comic stories are also reprinted: the first P'gell story in the October 6, 1946, Spirit insert; Master Race from Impact #1; Big 'If'! from Frontline Combat #5; & Superduperman! from Mad Magazine #4.

Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades Of The World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels, Marvel Comics 1991
An in-depth look at the history of Marvel Comics and the people who worked for it. Additionally it reprints 4 stories (5 if you count a one-page Kurtzman cartoon ;-) Vengeance from Sub-Mariner #35; Duel To The Death With The Vulture! from The Amazing Spider-Man #2; This Man... This Monster! from The Fantastic Four #51; & The Hunter a Wolverine tale from a special comic sold exclusively through Sears stores.
I recommend this book.

Space Aces!: Comic Book Heroes From The Forties And Fifties! by Denis Gifford, Green Wood Publishing 1991
This book deals with British comics that published spaceman stories & characters in the forties & fifties. If you're interested in that sort of thing it's okay.

Science Fiction Comics: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton, Taylor Publishing 1992
Superhero Comics Of The Golden Age: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton, Taylor Publishing 1992
These are book 3 & 4 in the Taylor History of comics series. (Wish I could find the rest of the series.)
Both deal with the history of comics under their respective titles. There are stories about the companies & people who worked on them. Both books have checklists of comics that published their respective titles.
Additionally the Golden Age book has a spotlight on 50 of the more famous superheroes of the Golden Age (the author ends the Golden Age at February, 1955, the month before the Comics Code took effect.)
These are two great resources about the history of Science Fiction & Golden Age Superhero comics. If you are interested in these subjects I recommend them.
My main complaint about these books is that I wish they were even more detailed.

If you were wondering the other books in the Taylor History of Comics series were: 1. Horror Comics: The Illustrated History; 2. Superhero Comics of the Silver Age: The Illustrated History; 5. Crime And Detective Comics: The Illustrated History.

Comic Book Rebels by Stanley Wiater & Stephen R. Bissette, Donald I. Fine, Inc. 1993
A great book interviewing different "Rebels" in comics. The assembled rebels are Scott McCloud, Larry Marder, Jack Jackson, Richard Corben, Lee Marrs, Howard Cruse, Denis Kitchen, Dave Sim, Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird, Harvey Pekar & Joyce Brabner, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Frank Miller, Colleen Doran, Rick Veitch, Todd McFarlane, & Will Eisner. Interesting, insightful & funny, highly recommended.

DC Comics: Sixty Years Of The World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels, Bulfinch Press 1995
While this does have good information about the history of DC Comics, it's hampered by the decision to break the information into 2-page segments, rather than the more biographical approach he used in the Marvel book. Since information doesn't naturally fit into 2-page segments we get some sections with a lot of pictures and little text, or a lot of text & few pictures. Despite that it's still a good book that I recommend.

100 Years Of American Newspaper Comics, Edited by Maurice Horn, Gramercy Books 1996
A wonderful reference of most American comic strips from 1896-1996.

The Slings & Arrows Comics Guide Edited by Frank Plowright, Aurum Press Ltd. 1997
Thousands of comics are reviewed in this guide. Some reviews I agree with some I don't, but it's a great resource for when I'm trying to find out something about some comic I may not have heard of. Highly recommended.

There is a second edition out, but I'm not sure if it reprints what's here with additional titles & updates, or if it's a complimentary edition.

Great American Comic Books by Ron Goulart, Publications International 2001
A nice overview of the history of comic books. Chapters tend to be devoted to a particular subject (superheroes, humor, crime, horror).

Comic Book Encyclopedia by Ron Goulart - Harper Collins $49.95 Hardcover with dustjacket
This is a nice reference book dealing with the artists, writers, characters & titles. It doesn't deal with everyone or everything about comics and some of the information is wrong, but it covers a nice wide variety so makes a nice compliment to other comic book reference books.

---

The DC Comics Encyclopedia DK $40 Hardcover with dustjacket
A guide to the characters of the Post-Crisis DC Universe.

An interesting reference which also demonstrates how various recent writers have mucked up the characters of the DCU.

---

R. F. Outcault's The Yellow Kid Kitchen Sink Press $55 Hardcover
A nice reference about & collection of The Yellow Kid & the times he was printed in.

The Yellow Kid was the first comic strip*, & the first widely merchandised (& plagiarized) character.

* The definition of a comic strip is more narrowly defined than most people would think, generally including a series of sequential pictures with dialogue in word balloons and the words & pictures must work together for the joke to work. This combination first came together in The Yellow Kid cartoon of October 25, 1896, although the character of the Kid had been around since 1894.

Bill Blackbeard writes about the times, & the development of the Kid (Mickey Dugan, if you want to know the Kid's `real' name) & the newspaper publishing business.

One thing that was missing was any reference to a lawsuit over ownership of The Yellow Kid. Other sources I've read indicated that when Outcault took his characters from the New York World to the New York Journal there was a lawsuit over ownership, but there is nothing mentioned here.

All of Richard Outcault's cartoons featuring the kid, as well as some cartoons by other artists featuring appearances of the kid, are reprinted. The one drawback is that they don't appear as big as they did originally so it becomes tough to read some of the text.
Also references to then-current events are lost on those of us who don't know them.

There's also a tendency to use an Irish-American dialect in the cartoons, so if you're not a fan of dialect humor that can get old fast.

Not all of the cartoons try to be funny (or maybe they just had a very black sense of humor then).

A good book about the origins of a popular medium.

Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History by Ron Goulart - Collectors Press
A nice little overview of US comics from the early days to around the mid-1950s.
I wouldn’t reccomend it at full price, I don’t think it’s in-depth enough for that, but if you can get it at a cheap price it’s okay.

Will Eisner’s Shop Talk by Will Eisner - Dark Horse Comics
This collects interviews that Will Eisner conducted with Neal Adams, C.C. Beck, Milton Caniff, Jack Davis & Harvey Kurtzman, Gill Fox, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, Phil Seuling & Joe Simon and that originally ran in The Spirit Magazine or Will Eisner's Quarterly in the early 1980s.

The interviews are interesting with info about art, publishing & other things.

I can only think of three drawbacks.

1. Eisner knows very little about comics outside of what he did in comics so it gets a little... 'cabbageheady' when he's asking for info about something that would be familiar to most comic fans.

2. Sometimes Eisner will get nitpicky on word choices, probably at its worst in the Kurtzman interview where Kurtzman is trying to get a point across and Eisner is debating with him on the statement that the French artists had been given freedom.

3. Reading the book I couldn't understand why they put the interviews in the order they did. It was only when I was typing up who was interviewed that I realized they were in alphabetical order. Personally I wish they had been in chronological order, especially as sometimes Eisner makes a reference to previous interview that appears later, or in some cases Eisner's opinion on something (i.e. Stan Lee) seems to arbitrarily shift although if it had been chronological it probably would have seemed natural.

Those are however very minor points & I recommend this book.

The Pirates And The Mouse: Disney's War Against The Counterculture by Bob Levin - Fantagraphics Books

Note. This book is NOT for kids! Several pages are reproduced from the various underground comics and contain scenes of nudity & sex.

Back in the 1970s, some underground artists got together and, calling themselves the Air Pirates, produced some comics using Disney characters in unDisney ways (sex, drugs, etc.) & hoping Disney would sue. Disney did. This is the story.

If you're looking for an unbiased book about Disney vs. The Air Pirates... keep looking. The author is very clearly on the Pirates' side (I'm not sure he hates Disney, but his admiration for the Pirates is blatant.)

Bias aside, it is an interesting book. Particularly the utter mess that is Copyright law. (Years ago on an art newsgroup some of us were having a discussion on Copyright. Two of the artists were lawyers, although they practiced other forms of law. One of them said that he knew lawyers who deal in Copyright & even they weren't entirely sure what it did & didn't mean. Reading this book I could see why as Judges will make completely arbitrary decisions sometimes even contradicting previous rulings. Activist judges are not a new thing.)

On a side note I was reading Disney: The Illusion of Life before this & one thing that kept coming out over & over again was how Walt would get people to produce work that they didn't even think they were capable of and, while Walt had his flaws, people liked him. This book starts off with Dan O'Neil deciding that what America really needed was the destruction of Disney & everything it stands for.
Bit of a mental disconnect there. (In an odd way it reminded me of how so many people around the world hate America & want to see all of us killed.)

I can't recommend this book 100% (maybe 50-75%). The author's writing style (autocritology) is a little annoying. His bias for, & approval of, Dan O'Neil (the ringleader of the Air Pirates) is annoying. However if you want to know anything about this case, it's the only book out there.

It was back in the Eighties when I first about the Air Pirates. Comics Scene had a two-part essay written by Howard Cruise dealing with the lawsuit. My understanding was O'Neil and company were doing satire when they released the first issue. Then Disney sent them a cease and desist letter. The attitude the Air Pirates had was "We're broke. We have no money. What can they really do to us?" So they ignore Disney's lawyers and put out the next issue. Then came the lawsuit.

The case was a very fascinating one. I'd love to read those two essays again. I have thought about buying the book you reviewed KAM. One of these days I will.

Thanks for the review!

Excelsior!

You're welcome.

Actually the intent was to get Disney to sue them (Dan O'Neil has a very self-destructive personality). They may have thought the Satire defense would work, but Dan made sure Disney executives got copies of the comic.

Me - On a side note I was reading Disney: The Illusion of Life
Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life is the correct title. D'oh!

Then Howard Cruise was being generous Dan O'Neill and the Air Pirates. Because I definitely remember the part about them having no money, so let Disney sue them. Again, I need to get those issues of Comics Scene so I can re-read that article. For that matter, I think I'd actually like to read the two Air Pirates comics, too.

Excelsior!

Howard Cruise may not have known of Dan's intent. Dan is not above telling stories. (He's Irish, you know.)

When Bobby London had qualms about drawing Disney characters Dan told him that the characters were in the Public Domain.
There are other stories of Dan's duplicity throughout the book.

In addition to the 2 Air Pirates books, there was an earlier book that featured the Pirates' work on some Disney characters, a reprint of some material that came during the trial (in violation of a court injunction) &, years later, a reprint of some of Air Pirates #1 along with a new story from a group apparently unrelated to any of the Pirates. (Unfortunately I've blanked on the names of those books at the moment.)

Howard Cruise may not have known of Dan's intent. Dan is not above telling stories. (He's Irish, you know.) - KAM

True. It's been 20 years (or thereabout) since I've read Cruise's essays.

I do,incidentally, have a bid on eBay for the second issue of the Air Pirates Comix. I've bid on #1, but I haven't matched their reserve price. Don't know yet if I want to bid what I think it is.

Excelsior!

Those books I couldn't remember:
Dan O'Neill's Comics And Stories #1-3 - This actually reprinted some of O'Neill's Odd Bodkins strips, presumably the ones featuring his use of Disney characters, although it did have some new stuff by O'Neill, London & Hallgren. Disney aparently never knew of this since it was never included in the lawsuit.

The Tortoise And The Hare #1 - not a reprint like I thought. Apparently has some material intended for Air Pirates Funnies #3

Air Pirates Pirate Edition - this was the one put out years later by others.

Hong Kong Comics: A History Of Manhua by Wendy Siuyi Wong - Published by Princeton Architectural Press

An interesting overview & history of comics in and around Hong Kong.

It’s broken up into sections covering Political, Comical, Action, & Children's Cartoons. It also includes selected artist biographies, a translation index for titles, as well a reference list of related works.

One thing I didn't care for was they tended to have captions that addressed several pictures, rather than dealing with & explaining the individual pictures. Admittedly the reason was that they were showing examples from a particular magazine or paper, but still sometimes something would catch my eye & I would look to the caption for an explanation that wasn't there.

It also would have been nice if they had presented some translated examples of various cartoons/comics. It's one thing to hear about a series, it's something else to actually read an example.

Still, if you are interested in learning more about Hong Kong comics it’s a nice resource.

What's It All About, Charlie Brown? by Jeffrey H. Loria, cartoons by Charles Schulz - B&W - Fawcett Crest (paperback reprint of a hardcover book)

This book from the late 1960s examines both the kids from Peanuts & (then) contemporary society.

Interesting, although it really points up how atypical the Peanuts kids are & some of the comments about society are now around 40 years out of date (but not necessarily inaccurate).

Not essential, but an interesting curiosity, if you can find a copy.

Panel Two: More Comic Book Scripts By Top Writers Edited by Nat Gertler, including scripts by Mark Evanier, Peter David, Mike Baron, Bill Mumy & Miguel Ferrer, Otto Binder, Sara Ryan, Scott McCloud, Gail Simone, Judd Winick - B&W - About Comics

Well, this was an interesting book. It reproduces scripts for nine different comic stories, by ten writers, as well as some commentary from some writers & artists about those scripts. The variety of ways writers use to script is the most fascinating part of this collection. Some use a script style format, some sketch out the action & write in dialogue. If you are interested in the different ways comics get written it's very good.

The stories themselves... are an odd mix.
Groo: Death & Taxes #1 - (Amusing)
SpyBoy Special 1 - (Meh! If you can't guess the plot twist right from the start...)
Nexus #66 - (Handwritten script makes it hard to read)
Trypto The Acid Dog: Dog Eat Dog - (Very dark story in a "light-hearted" Golden Age style)
Fatman Meets Tinman - (The changes between script & finished page are amazing)
Me and Edith Head - (Slice of life story about a teenage girl)
Zot! #19 - (Superhero action)
Killer Princesses #1 - ("Wacky" story about 3 women killers)
The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales #2 - (Handwritten script makes it hard to read & what can be read has a lot of foul language.)

So the main reason to get it is for the variety of storytelling styles, not the actual stories. Especially since some are one part of a longer story.

The Essential Guide To World Comics by Tim Pilcher & Brad Brooks - Published by Collins & Brown

Essential? No. Interesting, yes, but not essential. It is however a good introduction to comics & comic history around the world. So if you're interested in that I'd recommend it.

Foul Play! The Art And Artists Of The Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics! by Grant Giessman
This is a very nice history of EC Comics & the artists who worked there. It's broken up into chapters for the main artists (Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny Craig, Jack Davis, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, Will Elder, John Severin, George Evans, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall & Bernie Krigstein), along with color reproductions of stories each artist did (one story per artist), & one chapter for minor artists (Marie Severin, Sheldon Moldoff, Alex Toth, Basil Wolverton & Joe Kubert). Some behind the scenes stuff is reproduced as well as a story intended for publication, but never used because of the shutting down of the comic book line.
I recommend it.

Superman: The Complete History by Les Daniels
Pretty good. Lots of information about Superman, his development, his creators, & comics in general, as well as Superman in other media. Definitely a good book if you want to know more about Superman.

Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels
A very good history of Wonder Woman, her creator & the writers, editors & artists who have handled her through the years.

Batman: The Complete History by Les Daniels
Not bad, but I didn't find it as good as the companion volumes on Superman & Wonder Woman.

Was Superman A Spy? by Brian Cronin
This started off as Comic Book Legends Revealed at Brian Cronin's blog, but rather than taking those posts & reprinting them, he rewrote the ones he used & included new material as well. Whereas the blog would have the question, a true or false answer followed by the information, this is written as interesting articles about comics, giving some background on the subject & then telling the interesting things about it.

If you like comics history & trivia highly recommended!

The DC Vault by Martin Pasko - Running Press

A history of DC Comics including various goodies & trinkets in pouches that the reader can take out & examine.

As a history it does cover some of the same territory as other histories, although it does include information that I have not seen in other books. The main selling point is all the little "extras" that the reader can pull out, which is very nice.

Still I wouldn't recommend this at full price. Wait for a sale.

The Marvel Vault by Roy Thomas & Peter Sanderson - Running Press

A history of Marvel Comics including various goodies & trinkets in pouches that the reader can take out & examine.

Same recommendation as The DC Vault

I am a big fan of Brian Cronin's blog and the Urban Legends thing is one of my favorites. I do somewhat agree with one of the critics who pointed out Cronin's worst flaw is that he really can't write very well.

Superhero Comics Of The Silver Age: The Illustrated History by Mike Benton - Taylor Publishing Company

Nice. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more coverage of companies besides DC & Marvel, though. Yes, the Silver Age was the time when the Big Two achieved dominance of the market, but there were other companies doing interesting, and/or quirky, things with super-heroes, as well.

Has a nice section on artists of the Silver Age who penciled superhero stories. Also a section on what he considers the important heroes of the Silver Age (all DC & Marvel) and a checklist of Silver Age comics that contain superhero stories.

Not as good as the author's Superhero Comics of The Golden Age or Science Fiction Comics, but not bad.

How To Draw Comic Book Heroes And Villains by Christopher Hart - Published by Watson Guptil

Despite what you may have heard about Mr. Hart's art books this is not terrible.

He has a lighthearted writing style & while his art style appears to be cartoony he was smart enough to get some comic book pros to produce professional looking artwork & include some of their comments.

However, the book is hardly essential. Most of the actual how-to-draw stuff can be found in other books and it was only the occasional tidbit of advice that I hadn't recalled encountering elsewhere.

Not a terrible book, but there's not a lot that makes it a required part of a wannabe comic artist's library either.