The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art

by Jerry Robinson, Winsor McCay (Artist), Milton Caniff (Artist)

From Jerry Robinson, legendary creator of the Joker, seventy-year veteran of the comics industry, and prominent figure in monthly books, daily strips, and comics journalism, comes a comprehensive history of the truly American art form The Comics is a fully reworked and updated edition of the 1974 classic that chronicles the origins and evolution of comic strips, from prior to The Yellow Kid through today, and highlights the game-changing contributions of such creative luminaries as Milton Caniff, Walt Kelly, Hal Foster, and Winsor McCay, among countless others. A fascinating resource of enduring excellence for fans of the art form, historians, and casual readers alike, this edition has been extensively revisited by Robinson and tells the stories behind the newsprint page.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, History, Art, Cartoon

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Sherrill David Robinson, known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and the Joker and for his work on behalf of creators' rights.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty thorough overview of the American newspaper comic strip basically from 1896 till the early 70s. It covered every strip I've ever heard of (and hundreds more!). The black and white reproduction is good. They have some full page color comics... but the reproduction is very muddy.

Comic strips seem to get pretty boring in the 70s with the Peanuts influence of minimalism.

It has all the obvious ones Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, Gasoline Alley, Peanuts, Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, Pogo,

Some that I want to check out more of:
Bud Fisher - Mutt and Jeff (1919) looks like a great early humour strip with thin lines
Hal Foster - Tarzan (1936) and Burne Hogath (1949) fantastic realistic fantasy artwork
Elzie Segar - Thimble Theater (1926) Popeye (1929)heard lots about this one
Chester Gould - Dick Tracy (1931) heard lots about this one
Al Williamson - Secret Agent Corrigan (1972) photorealism
Alex Raymond - Rip Kirby (1950) photorealism
Milton Caniff - Steve Canyon (1963) Terry and the Pirates (1941) great impressionist photorealism
Pat Sullivan - Felix the Cat (1932) Looks fun
Gordo - Gus Arriola (1954) pretty crazy experimental style
Ernie Bushmiller - Nancy (1946) I've read the John Stanley stuff
Russell Paterson - Mamie (1954) very sexy drawings
Leonard Starr - On Stage (1957) crazy photorealism
Stan Drake - The Heart of Juliet Jones (1957) also crazy good phoorealism
H, T, Webster - Bridge(1931).very attractive line work like Gasoline Alley
Guido Crepax - Valentina (1968) Heavy metal style stuff
Hugo Pratt - Captain Cormorant

[Tom M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Robinson's "The Comics" attempts to detail the history of the american newspaper comic strip. For the most part, Robinson does a fairly good job, giving readers a splash of history, a mix of mini-biographies of noted artists, and examples of the comic strips being discussed.

As I read "The Comics" I found myself continually wanting to know more about the artists and to see more examples of all of the strips being described. "The Comics" came off as a quick survey (despite its length) leaving me wishing for a book of similar length for each of the chapters/decades discussed.

One strange thing -- it seemed as if there were sections of the book that were placed out of order. I found at least one set of paragraphs that appeared to be transposed and an entire section on a much earlier time period placed towards the end of the book. Strange.

[Triinu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Describes only mainstream, not very eclectic American style comic strips. Interesting for people, who like the style, but otherwise those comics look like they have been drawn by the same person or at least people who had very similar influence. Nothing bad in that, but it is not my personal favourite style. Text part is well done.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give it three and a half stars. I'd have liked less snippet-views of individual strips and more of the historical and societal trends that influenced the strips. But it's still a valuable overview of comic strip history and the major figures and cartoonists who made it happen.

[E.J. Matze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aint I de Maine
Guy in dis parade.
Well I guess dat's RIGHT


G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous, and a wonderful history.