Comic Book History of Comics

by Fred Van Lente, Ryan Dunlavey (Illustrator)

Overview

For the first time ever, the inspiring, infuriating, and utterly insane story of comics, graphic novels, and manga is presented in comic book form! The award-winning Action Philosophers team of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey turn their irreverent-but-accurate eye to the stories of Jack Kirby, R. Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Alan Moore, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Fredric Wertham, Roy Lichtenstein, Art Spiegelman, Hergé, Osamu Tezuka — and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613771976
Publisher:	IDW Publishing
Publication date:	06/05/2012
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Fred Van Lente is the #1 New York Times bestselling writer of comics like Archer & Armstrong (Harvey Award nominee, Best Series), Action Philosophers! (ALA Best Graphic Novel for Teens), and Cowboys & Aliens (with Andrew Foley), the basis for the feature film. His other titles include Resurrectionists, The Comic Book History of Comics, The Incredible Hercules (with Greg Pak), Marvel Zombies and The Amazing Spider-Man. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, playwright Crystal Skillman, and some ungrateful cats.

Ryan Dunlavey spends his days drawing cool stuff for the world's most charming and attractive art directors. He's the artist of the award-winning graphic novels Dirt Candy: A Cookbook (with Amanda Cohen); Action Philosophers, Action Presidents, and The Comic Book History of Comics (all with Fred Van Lente); and the comic strip Li'l Classix (with Grady Hendrix). On the occasions when he leaves his 100% cat-free home studio (allergies) he can be seen with graphic designer Liza Pagano and their two children as they explore New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Tracing comics from the late 19th century through the next 100 years, and covering the creative, business, and social factors that shaped them, this is a thorough and ambitious history. Though it boasts exceptional scholarship and vision, any work this expansive is bound to show a few cracks. While Dunlavy’s crisp artwork mostly furthers historical anecdotes into larger points, some panels descend into cheap gags. With the wider brushstroke, the book is usually on target, rarely mining comics-history-as-usual. It takes well-executed detours that trace the flow of underground comics, explaining the economics of the direct market and the speculative implosion of the 1990s with a clear sense of how these affect content, and delving into the histories of European, English, and Japanese scenes with affection. The defensiveness in the coverage of Lichtenstein and pop art is unfortunate, especially given the bravado in the portrayal of the Air Pirates’ appropriation of Disney properties. The history ends just before the indie boom of the ’90s, including self-publishers and mini-comics makes the history feel incomplete, given these cartoonists’ direct effect on the rise of the graphic novel and the embrace of comics in wider culture. Still, Van Lente knows the territory and how to present it; this book should become a standard reference in the field. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Töpffer, The Yellow Kid, Wertham, kamishibai storytelling (on cards), and the British invasion are fishhooks into comics history likely to be widely recognized among fanfolk. Now prepare for much more detail, variously fascinating, enlightening, or OMG infuriating, via these interwoven pictorial narratives. Prize nuggets include the U.S. Army's test to determine the effectiveness of Will Eisner's Preventive Maintenance cartoons (the comics easily topped text-only), Dunlavey's visual of Watchmen compared with Moby-Dick, and the fine sections on manga (with fun mnemonics for key Japanese kanji) and piracy (with dangers and solutions). These creators take comics seriously: even the acknowledgements have panels and drawings. Likewise, they take history seriously, with six pages of source notes plus more online. VERDICT This excellent and entertaining chronicle must have been an elephant to research but comes through in an understandable if sometimes insane bite at a time. Certainly, Dunlavey (the similarly irreverent and insightful Action Philosophers) manages superbly to render realistically, to caricature, and/or to pillory dozens of real people in easy, strikingly composed pen-and-inks. Essential for serious fans as well as for students and researchers of the medium, adults and teens. Originally published by Evil Twin Comics as Comic Book Comics.

Library Journal