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Books About Comics

chas

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I have a library of books about comics, and I'd like to hear about any you have that you think are good (or not). I'm not thinking about the ones that collect various comics themselves, so much as those dealing with the history of the industry and personalities, literary and cultural analysis, Japanese manga/anime, etc. I've also seen some good DVD extras on the subject, which I've mentioned elsewhere.

A new pal who is a friend of Grishnakh's just gave me a copy of MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe (Harper, 2012) an editor and critic who lives here in Brooklyn, NY. Its a very exciting read, as it really goes behind the scenes as various personalities cross between the various comic companies and create but also feud with each other. For example, I just started the book, and finally understand what was up with Steve Ditko, an early Silver Age light who made major contributions to Spiderman and Dr. Strange, and then disappeared! Later he created The Question, an interesting character who I met in animated episodes of JLA Unlimited. It turns out that Ditko was a follower of the ideas of...Ayn Rand.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has read this book on what they thought as I go through the volume myself.
 
It's been a long time since I read it last, but Jim Steranko's History of Comics was one of the histories that I picked up back in 1970.
 
Chas I read MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe (Harper, 2012) last year. A great read, but a little depressing. The comic artists and writers of the 70's & 80's really seemed to little to show for their efforts, but that is the system.
 
The book is a great medium-depth history of the company. You should love it, chas. If my copy weren't still in the hands of a friend of mine who borrowed it a year ago, I would've loaned it to you before now.
 
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