I was willing to give this book a try because upon skimming, I saw that it gave Dr. Wertham a fair analysis: far, far too many books about comic books paint him as an egotist out to ruin harmless fun. Van Lente and Dunlavey present not only all the medical and especially social work he did that formed the background for his incendiary attitude toward '50s comics, they also (both fairly, and hilariously--I about choked with laughter at some panels in the p. 84-85 spread [Archie Andrews and Superm More...

The Comic Book History of Comics by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey presents the long and storied history of the comic book and graphic novel art form and the industry that spawned it in the only format befitting the true history of comics, a comic book. In this meticulously researched book you will laugh, you will howl and you will even learn a thing or two about comics in America and all over the world.

In this book, IDW Publishing has collected the six issue series Comic Book Comics originall More...

Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, creators of the unexpected and exceptional Action Philosophers, return to the nonfiction comics realm with this hilarious and insightful history of their chosen medium. Much like in Philosophers, the duo effectively uses exaggeration and humor. Van Lente employees asides and one-liners. Dunlavey relies on the best techniques from cartoonist forebearers. Perhaps nothing benefits more from this style than the events involving EC. They manage to display M.C. Gaines More...

Well, you can tell that this book was made by a Kirby fan. The narrative stream starts out with the boy who would become 'Kirby' discovering a cover of a pulp decades before he would have any impact on comics in the 1960s, with his story continuing through his public complaints about work-for-hire status and his oft-forgot settlement with Marvel thirty years ago (yes, he settled, let's move on).

Eisner is depicted as someone who didn't really make it in the real comics, but who was merely useful More...

The date I finished this book (below) may be inaccurate. I actually read most of the book in two days. Not bragging, after all it's a comic, just mentioning because I know the two days of binge reading came a few days after I started reading this one. Like, first I read the first two or three pages, approximately, and then a few days went by and I didn't get a chance to pick it up again. Once I picked it up again, I really tore through it avariciously and enjoyed myself enormously. A great read. More...

Utterly fascinating, clever, and brutally honest. Rips the band-aid off the wound of most of the unspoken truths and keeps going. Everything (almost) is covered from Disney (yay!) to Tezuka to Crumb to Image to piracy.

The only comics "textbook" to actually touch on the history of comics that I know of. Isn't afraid to get dirty, but also doesn't choose sides (ie. Stan Lee/Kirby/Ditko/Marvel).

Required reading for any fan of comics.

Got a little preachy towards the end, but a history of comics written/drawn by comics creators (rather than historians) very well should be. The book focuses primarily on the American history of comics, but provides enough information on international creations to spark my interest in learning more. Overall, an enormously thorough and fascinating look at an industry and art form that has been as full of drama, politics, and laughs as the stories its creators have fought to tell. Buy this one.

This book provided a very entertaining study of the history and development of the comic book medium (primarily American comics, but they do discuss some European comics and manga near the end) as presented with comic graphic depictions. It was quite an enjoyable read, well illustrated, and very informative. I'm quite happy I picked the book up on a whim a few months back.

This isn't the kind of comic you fly through - if I hadn't felt pressure from the other books I'm supposed to be reading I would have taken this even more slowly. There's a lot of information here, and even helped with the illustration (so handy at identifying recurring figures) it's hard to unpack sometimes. But worth it!

Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey deliver an insightful illustrated journey through comic book history. The book is filled with pop culture observations. It takes you behind the scenes of the art studios and distros that have made comics what they are today. Worth reading for any comic book fan.

Marvelous! Illuminating, analytical, with a lot of insight into how and why comics developed as they did, primarily in America, but also touching on Great Britain, Europe, and Japan. Has a great bibliography, but most of all, this book is hilarious!

O conceito é um sucesso.
A execução peca pela apoucada habilidade da arte e do argumento. Tem detalhes hilariantes, mas, a espaços, notam-se aquelas faltas de habilidade e desgusta-se o amargo de boca que é saber da existência de um potencial para a perfeição, estacionado muito aquém disso por contingências técnicas.
Ainda assim, aconselha-se vivamente a leitura deste regabofe comic gráfico-novelizado.^^

Superb graphic content of mainly USA history of comics, although it does go further a field later on. A good early part on 1930s comic history and very sympathetic to that towering great of USA's comics - Jack Kirby.

If you love comics and consider yourself a comic geek or you're curious of this strange world of comics, then this is the ultimate history guide in comic form. It's brilliant- pick it up and get educated!

outstanding! i could feel my brain percolating. so much fun. just a ton of information and presented so well and clearly.

only now i feel a really expensive comics jag coming on...

A wonderful book that illuminates so much of what we are seeing today. And proves again and again that what we are reading always owes so much to Kirby and Eisner.

Not only is this a well written history of the medium, it's hilarious to boot. Stan Lee talking like a purple prose Stan Lee character is excellent. It has a hopeful ending, too.

Very well done. Thorough and critical, the scholarship is only enhanced by Dunlavey's renderings in homage-style.

It was are really great and let me get informed about comic book history that I had never known about. It was a really good book.

Very impressive. Got a bit confusing for me with all the names, esp. early in the book.

Great idea for a fun-to-read history of the comics form, with lots of humor and visual gags tossed in for good measure.

This book was truly excellent. Having met the authors, I knew they were both extraordinarily knowledgeable comics fans but what sets them apart is their attention to detail and the level of research which they so obviously put into every panel. By the same team that produced Action Philosophers, this book was just as fascinating and just as eye-opening. I would recommend it to anyone who reads comic books (or wants to).

Great!

Terrific book; loads on information on comics history in a fun, accessible format. It really comes to life -- and some of the techniques & innovations they discuss are much better seen than simply read about.

Great exploration of the history of American comics (there is some info on European and Japanese comics, but it's primarily about the U.S.). Comics is a great medium for presenting information, so this is a good fit. It seems odd that it took so long for somebody to do a history of comics in comics form. I hope Van Lente & Dunlavey do more non-fiction comics to sit alongside this and their earlier "Action Philosophers Comics."