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Best books on comic book history?4858

Collector Lonestar private msg quote post Address this user
I watched the first episode of "Robert Kirkman's Secret history of Comic Books" over the weekend. It made me realize that while I've been reading comics for most of my life. And I read a lot of other books on a variety of subjects, including history, I've never read any books on the history of comic books.

If anyone has any suggestions for good books on this subject to read, please post them in this thread. Let me know if it's a general history or of a specific era, genre or company.

Thanks in advance.
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Collector JustABitEvil private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonestar
I watched the first episode of "Robert Kirkman's Secret history of Comic Books" over the weekend. It made me realize that while I've been reading comics for most of my life. And I read a lot of other books on a variety of subjects, including history, I've never read any books on the history of comic books.

If anyone has any suggestions for good books on this subject to read, please post them in this thread. Let me know if it's a general history or of a specific era, genre or company.

Thanks in advance.


For all the 'Comic Book Historians' that show quotes I've read precious little but Sean Howe's "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story" was an excellent read. It gets more and more sad and frustrating as it goes on though.
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Collector OrbitCityComics private msg quote post Address this user
The secret history of Wonder Woman is excellent.
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Collector Logan510 private msg quote post Address this user
Jim Steranko's History of Comics Vol 1&2 are must haves for comic book historians.

Just as an FYI, they are very large format, think treasury sized.




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Collector 00slim private msg quote post Address this user
Stan Lee's recently released Memoir (in graphic novel format) was a very entertaining & informative read.


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Collector X51 private msg quote post Address this user
Here's a good read online:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060714153706/http://bugpowder.com/andy/e.speechballoons.evolution.html

I have a theory that comic strips became popular because of the invention of motion pictures.
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COLLECTOR dielinfinite private msg quote post Address this user
Not exactly inclusive but I really love these books

Marvel Universe by Peter Sanderson. This book basically defined the Marvel Universe for me when I was little. It only goes up to the 90s. It ends right before Heroes Reborn



This one is pretty good on the history of DC more as a company, where the Marvel Universe above is looking at characters, stories, and creators and how they've evolved over time



Then you have these year-by-year chronologies that highlight major issues storylines, and events, chronologically year by year


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COLLECTOR JLS_Comics private msg quote post Address this user
I forget the name but there is one by Fred Van Lente that I remember enjoying quite a bit
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it! IronMan private msg quote post Address this user
For one book that manages to touch on most aspects of the history of comics, I believe it is hard to top Less Daniels' COMIX: A History of Comic Books in America.

Other excellent overviews of collecting are:

Steranko's History of Comics Volume 1 & 2, which are also just beautiful books

Lupoff & Thompson's All in Color for a Dime

There are number of other interesting reads that are more specific to a publisher or character, but the above stand out as comprehensive "history of..." books.





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PEDIGREED... Again! martymann private msg quote post Address this user



mm
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I had no way of knowing that 9.8 graded copies signed by Adam Hughes weren't what you were looking for. drchaos private msg quote post Address this user
This book is about some fictitious golden age comic book artists. I would highly recommend it:


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Collector Lonestar private msg quote post Address this user
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. It looks like I've got a lot of good reading coming up.
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Collector Lonestar private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrbitCityComics
The secret history of Wonder Woman is excellent.

I watched Episode 2 which was about this. I now want to find and read this book. Bizarre and interesting story about the creator of Wonder Woman. I had heard the part about Marston creating the lie-detector, but I have never heard about his personal life.
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I live in RI and Rhode Islanders eat chili with beans. esaravo private msg quote post Address this user
@IronMan - I agree that Les Daniels Comix: A History of Comic Books in America is a great read.

I also recommend Jules Feiffer - The Great Comic Book Heroes, which includes color reprints of early Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man, Captain America, and others.

And The World Encyclopedia of Comics, edited by Maurice Horn, is a nice reference book.





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Collector X51 private msg quote post Address this user
This magazine has an article by Max Gaines that gives a history of comics prior to 1942.

Print: A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts Volume 3 Issue 2 (1942)



The article was reprinted for libraries..

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COLLECTOR Wolverine private msg quote post Address this user
I grabbed that one by Sean Howe for my flight on Saturday
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