Category Archives: History
Southern Comfort
According to Scott McCloud, comics utilize space in the same way that film relies on time: it is an essential and defining means through which to present a sequential narrative. The context of the comics page, the arrangement of its … Continue reading
New Republic Readings
One of my favorite periods of American history is the first half of the 19th century. The year 1800 is a good starting point, in that we have the rise of Jeffersonian republicanism and a real head-to-head between competing political … Continue reading
Short People
I recently finished reading Michael Lewis’s The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. First let me say that, on my own, I wouldn’t have picked up this book. While I find economics/business history interesting enough, sitting down to entire book on … Continue reading
Yesterday’s Men
This past week I finished Gerard Jones’s Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. As I had blogged last week, I’ve had this book for several years, but I had just not gotten around to reading … Continue reading
Histories of the High and Low
This past week I finished Matthew J. Costello’s Secret Identity Crisis. As I had discussed in my previous blog entry, this is an insightful look at Cold War politics from the 1960s and into the post-9/11 years and the way that … Continue reading
Of Fanboys and Ruskies
I am a history buff, and I enjoy reading about American political and cultural history, including pop cultural history. More specifically, I enjoy reading about comics history and its political resonances. Lately I’ve read, or have been in the process … Continue reading
Seals of Approval
Amy Kiste Nyberg’s Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code, is the best resource out there on the topic of censorship in comics, especially its historical context during the 1940s and 1950s. Nyberg is a communications professor, and … Continue reading
With Great Power Comes (Not-So-)Great Criticism
I’ve just finished reading Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith’s The Power of Comics: History, Form, and Culture, a book that has been on my “to read” list for some time. One of my interests in this title stems from … Continue reading
Reading Race
Yesterday I received a review copy of a new book published by First Second, The Silence of Our Friends, written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos and illustrated by Nate Powell. It’s a graphic novel based on the experiences of … Continue reading
Of Hypoglycemic Fantasy and Cartoon History
Grant Morrison and Seth are two of my favorite comics artists. And recently, both have come out with new releases, books I made a point of reading over the holidays. Joe the Barbarian, an eight-issue comic-book series that began in … Continue reading