American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s: 1950-1959

by Bill Schelly, Harvey Kurtzman (Artist), Carl Barks (Artist)

The American Comic Book Chronicles continues its ambitious series of full-color hardcovers where TwoMorrows' top authors document every decade of comic book history from the 1940s to today! Bill Schelly authors the volume on the 1950s era of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, with a year-by-year account of the most significant publications, notable creators, and impactful trends, including: the rise of the great EC "New Trend" titles (Tales of the Crypt, Weird Science), Harvey Kurtzman's Mad, and Carl Barks' classic work on Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge! Plus, read about the publication of Dr. Fredric Wertham's notorious anti-comics book, Seduction of the Innocent, and the Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency that led to the creation of the Comics Code, changing the face of comics for decades to come!

Genres: Comics, History, Nonfiction, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 2, 2013

About the author

BILL SCHELLY is the Eisner Award-winning author of HARVEY KURTZMAN, THE MAN WHO CREATED MAD AND REVOLUTIONIZED HUMOR IN AMERICA, voted Best Comics-Related Book of 2015. He began researching the history of comic fandom in 1991, resulting in the book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (1995), then became associate editor of Alter Ego magazine, a post he holds to the present day. Schelly has written several biographies of film and comics artists, including movie comedian Harry Langdon and comic book scribe Otto Binder, co-creator of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. In 2008, he authored Man of Rock, a biography of celebrated comics writer-artist Joe Kubert. Schelly's American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950’S (2013) was nominated for a Harvey Award. He has received acclaim as the premier historian of comic fandom, and perhaps the top biographer of comic book creators.

Reviews

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great blow-by-blow overview of comic book history in the U.S. Schelly and the people at TwoMorrows have done a wonderful job of compiling a book that is as slick and attractive as it is informative. I love comic book histories, and this series is one that I'll continue to come back to.

[Ian Massey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a detailed history of American comics in the 1950s, so why does it not score 5 stars? As well-written, well illustrated and detailed as it is, it does have a number of (very small) flaws - it times it can be a bit "list-y", there are a handful of typos (mostly printing or formatting errors, although I did spot one factual error - I'm certainly not qualified to pick out any more, but when this one refers to a planet's name incorrectly just a couple of lines after mentioning it correctly... - and there are times when the details seem to jump around a bit. The latter may have been more noticeable because I read the book in a couple of sittings, rather than dipping in and out, but when the book is divided into chapters dealing with a year at a time, it was sometime jarring to find myself reading about things that happened further on from a chapter's actual year. It could also have done with a bit more editing - occasionally facts are duplicated within a handful of lines.

But they are, overall, minor quibbles. My own collection begins in the next decade, as the Silver Age really began to take flight and, apart from reprints, I have read little of what was published in the 50s, nor was I fully aware that the major publishers of that decade were, almost exclusively, different to the major publishers now. Yes, I had heard of EC, Dell Charlton, etc but this books brings them to life. The details are fascinating and, while the paranoia regarding the art-form brought about by Wertham and his Seduction Of The Innocent is covered in less detail than I have read elsewhere, that leaves space for this book to deal with the comics themselves.

Brilliantly illustrated through, with covers, interiors and items of miscellany, the text is a gushing (rightly so) tribute to the comics and their creators, with sub-sections detailing individual creators and characters, and it brings to life a time of change within the industry that saw highs and, unfortunately, lows.

I look forward to reading the rest of the already-published volumes, covering the next few decades, along with some that I am told are still to come. Can't wait!

[Michel Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanting to try the American Comic Book Chronicles series from TwoMorrows, I sprung for The 1950s by Bill Schelly, because I felt it was the decade I knew the least about. The book goes through the decade year by year, providing lots of full-color illustrations (covers, interiors and other documents), and covering all the companies and creators that made a mark on those years. Other volumes may or may not seem to concentrate too much on superheroes; in the 50s, they just don't dominate. However when superheroes are discussed, the author goes into some detail. This may be a conscious choice to link the past to the present through recognizable characters, but obscure ephemera gets some play as well. I won't commend Schelly's prose, which is at times clunky (but look who's talking), but his history is informative, doesn't shy away from criticism but keeps it balanced, and features quotes from industry pros and other critics to give a fuller picture. Though a chronology, there are some more sweeping articles (subjects include female and black creators, atomic fear, Dick Sprang's Batman, a critical analysis of the Flash's first story, Sgt. Rock, and others), and one highlight for me was the complete original Comics Code. So now I'm interested to see how the series treats other decades.

[Robert Greenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Schelly covers all the obvious highlights in this look back at the 1950s, which proves to be a busier decade than one remembers. There is precious little new here in terms of facts and interpretation but it is good to have the years encapsulated in one place. If you don't know the history well, this is worth a read. As a part of the series, it is the second disappointing volume out of the three in print.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive about an era that had so much going on. My only complaint is that the yearly timelines are printed in black on dark colors - hard to read.

[Adriano Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only Wertham had not published "Seduction of the Innocent" with the resulting Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency (and the creation of the Comics Code), US comicbooks would have been much different than they have been for decades, focused on a variety of genre and not only on superheroes. Those chapters, with the demise of EC, are heart breaking. A must read, in any case.

[Brendan McEachern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Lucius · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting stuff! when i have the time i'll be sure to read the other installments in this series...

[Ryan Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume we get lots of EC Comics and, of course, the rise of the Code. Still a great level of detail, though I did miss the two-volume richness of the 40s.