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The Comic-Book Book
Comic book collectors relive the Golden Days, as they recall their favorite childhood comic heroes in this sequel to All in Color for a Dime. This reprint from the 1973 Arlington House original sports a new introduction from Lupoff and Comics Buyer's Guide editor Maggie Thompson. The Comic-Book Book is an entertaining and evocative excursion into memory land and an important contribution to the study of pop culture.
- GenresNonfictionComics
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
33 people want to read
About the author
Don Thompson
75 books27 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 20, 2012
FYI - There is another version of this book listed on Goodreads which is the original 1973 edition. This one has (according to the co-Editor Dick Lupoff) substantial corrections.
If you have any interest in how people that grew up with older waves of comics viewed them, then this book is for you. If you are looking for a definitive history of the comics industry then this will leave you wanting more. It's not meant as a scholarly tome on the business the artists and the evolution of the product/artform.
However, this book excels at conveying the likes and dislikes of the contributors who read and loved the comics that they write about. The sections within the book are "essays" produced individually. The editors have influenced content to some degree (in one case adding in material that the main author couldn't care less about), but the segments are pretty much standalones. So, there is repetition - meaning certain comics or characters get mentioned in two or more essays. But that may be just a simple entry in a list of comics types versus a more detailed duplication.
All-in-all this is an interesting and fairly enjoyable look back at the comics that existed before (and often long before) the major re-boot that happened with Stan Lee and his competitors in the early-to-mid 60s. It gives one an appreciation for the trailblazers in the industry and some of the classics that you & I may never get a chance to see.
In terms of likability I think it's probably more of a "3.5" than a "3". There is an earlier "companion" book "All In Color For A Dime" by the same team of editors that I may check out.
If you have any interest in how people that grew up with older waves of comics viewed them, then this book is for you. If you are looking for a definitive history of the comics industry then this will leave you wanting more. It's not meant as a scholarly tome on the business the artists and the evolution of the product/artform.
However, this book excels at conveying the likes and dislikes of the contributors who read and loved the comics that they write about. The sections within the book are "essays" produced individually. The editors have influenced content to some degree (in one case adding in material that the main author couldn't care less about), but the segments are pretty much standalones. So, there is repetition - meaning certain comics or characters get mentioned in two or more essays. But that may be just a simple entry in a list of comics types versus a more detailed duplication.
All-in-all this is an interesting and fairly enjoyable look back at the comics that existed before (and often long before) the major re-boot that happened with Stan Lee and his competitors in the early-to-mid 60s. It gives one an appreciation for the trailblazers in the industry and some of the classics that you & I may never get a chance to see.
In terms of likability I think it's probably more of a "3.5" than a "3". There is an earlier "companion" book "All In Color For A Dime" by the same team of editors that I may check out.
June 13, 2008
A reprint from the mid 70's with some corrections. It's basically 13 non-cohesive chapters (that read more like disparate essays) written by people who worked on or consumed comics from the "Golden Age." A lot of insider references (asides like "...and working on this comic was none other than a very young Joe Blo!" you, know, expecting you to already know about Joe Blo and why the exclamation point), so the uninitiated (like me) probably miss a lot. It's interesting to witness fans of such a temporal, disposable sub-pop medium wax all wistful.(Like, of course that stuff aint like it used to be,--wasn't ever supposed to last to begin with).
September 17, 2008
Follow up to All in Color for a Dime and just as readable, although you can tell they were running out of characters to talk about. It would be worth it if only for the chapters on Plastic Man and the Spirit. And you'll be happy to know that the trade paperbacks retained the 4 color inserts of comic book covers from the original hardcover editions.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews