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How Comics Are Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page
If you love comic strips, you’ll love this visual history of comic strips featuring all of the methods, techniques, and wizardry that made the funny pages such an important staple of American life. Featuring interviews with dozens of the century's most famous cartoonists and a foreword by bestselling author Michael Chabon.
How Comics Are Made covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. This book combines years of research and dozens of interviews with cartoonists, historians, and production people to tell the story of how a comic starts with an artist’s hand and makes it way through transformations into print and onto a digital screen. You’ll see reproductions of art and artifacts that have never appeared in print anywhere, and some historic comics will appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. And you’ll find out about metal etching, Dragon’s Blood (a real thing), flong (also a real thing), and the massively, almost impossibly complicated path that original artwork took to get onto newsprint in the days of metal relief printing. The book is divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in
The Early From the Yellow Kid in the 1890s to the 1910s Syndication in When it became affordable to make hundreds or thousands of copies of daily strips to send around the country (or world), from the 1910s to 1970s Newspapers’ switch from relief to flat printing and the shift to purely photographic transformations from the 1950s to the 1980s Pixel The transition from photographic to digital, from scanning to digital creation, from the 1970s to 2000s and through the present day Webcomics and Look, ma, no ink! Digital comics read online and sometimes put on press to make books Each section will feature interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.
How Comics Are Made covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. This book combines years of research and dozens of interviews with cartoonists, historians, and production people to tell the story of how a comic starts with an artist’s hand and makes it way through transformations into print and onto a digital screen. You’ll see reproductions of art and artifacts that have never appeared in print anywhere, and some historic comics will appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. And you’ll find out about metal etching, Dragon’s Blood (a real thing), flong (also a real thing), and the massively, almost impossibly complicated path that original artwork took to get onto newsprint in the days of metal relief printing. The book is divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in
The Early From the Yellow Kid in the 1890s to the 1910s Syndication in When it became affordable to make hundreds or thousands of copies of daily strips to send around the country (or world), from the 1910s to 1970s Newspapers’ switch from relief to flat printing and the shift to purely photographic transformations from the 1950s to the 1980s Pixel The transition from photographic to digital, from scanning to digital creation, from the 1970s to 2000s and through the present day Webcomics and Look, ma, no ink! Digital comics read online and sometimes put on press to make books Each section will feature interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 18, 2024
4 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Glenn Fleishman
82 books228 followersI started writing as a child and never stopped. I’ve always been interested in what makes things tick and how to explain that. That led to a career as a technology journalist and how-to article and book author. I’ve written dozens of books over my career in some combination of the two.
In the 2010s, I started publish a series of book that combined printing and type history and technology in a variety of ways. These titles include Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, a collection of essays and reporting; London Kerning, a look at two magnificent London printing collections and the city’s typographical history; Six Centuries of Type & Printing; and How Comics Were Made, a heavily visual history of the production and reproduction of newspaper comics from the 1890s to the present.
I live in Seattle, Washington, with my family, and drink very little coffee.
In the 2010s, I started publish a series of book that combined printing and type history and technology in a variety of ways. These titles include Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, a collection of essays and reporting; London Kerning, a look at two magnificent London printing collections and the city’s typographical history; Six Centuries of Type & Printing; and How Comics Were Made, a heavily visual history of the production and reproduction of newspaper comics from the 1890s to the present.
I live in Seattle, Washington, with my family, and drink very little coffee.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 1, 2026
If you enjoy comics, this is a must read! This is informative and fun! I learned alot about the history of comics. The writing style is really entertaining and I was never bored. I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Glenn Fleishman, Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 15, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy of this book that looks at the history of comic strips, and how the ideas of their creators were translated to the page, and to their numerous fans.
My father grew up reading the funnies in the paper and he passed that love to my brother and myself. We used to spend most of our weekends in the Bronx visiting our grandparents and my father would always stop and get the early editions of the Sunday paper when he could. The Daily News had the coolest pullout full color strips that have been lost to time, remembered by speciality publishers and well nerds like myself. The smell, the unique color of the strips. I loved them so. There have been numerous books on newspaper comic strips, from paperback collections to prestige hardcovers and immense reference books, many of which I have. Few however get into the part that is most important, how did those strips make it onto the paper. Not magic as one thought, but with a lot of work, a lot of mechanical know-how and science. And for all that my childhood thanks those who did this. For after reading this book, I know how hard it was. How Comics Are Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page by Glenn Fleishman is a look at the work, the technical skills needed to translate what a cartoonist drew on his board, into papers all over the country.
This is not a history of comic strips, more a how the sausage is made book about how sequential art, photographs and more were printed in newspapers. The book begins in the past, with a showing of a work of Chinese art that looks like a comic strip as printed on silk. From there we move forward to just before the 20th century and the story of the Yellow Kid, the first real comic strip, and one that caused a minor war between rival publishers. The book goes into how the mechanics of the strip were printed, as well as how this changed newspapers. The addition of photos, and colors and more are shown. As well as popular strip the book looks at how the printing process changed, that syndicates could be started, syndicates that could market the same strips all over the country. The book is lavishly illustrated with examples from the time, classic strips and more.
A very good study of a subject that up to know I had taken for granted. I knew there were strips in newspapers, and in collections, but not the amount of time and effort it takes to make them available. One really follows the history of newspapers, from a trusted source that was read by millions, to the sad decline that has happened to much of media, some self-inflicted, some brought on by social media and their many failed promises. The book is well-written and and clear to follow. There are some things that might need a second reading or two, but as many of us find changing the clocks difficult to do when the seasons changes, this is understandable. I book I really enjoyed and one that should be on many shelves for people who love comic strips and their rich history.
My father grew up reading the funnies in the paper and he passed that love to my brother and myself. We used to spend most of our weekends in the Bronx visiting our grandparents and my father would always stop and get the early editions of the Sunday paper when he could. The Daily News had the coolest pullout full color strips that have been lost to time, remembered by speciality publishers and well nerds like myself. The smell, the unique color of the strips. I loved them so. There have been numerous books on newspaper comic strips, from paperback collections to prestige hardcovers and immense reference books, many of which I have. Few however get into the part that is most important, how did those strips make it onto the paper. Not magic as one thought, but with a lot of work, a lot of mechanical know-how and science. And for all that my childhood thanks those who did this. For after reading this book, I know how hard it was. How Comics Are Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page by Glenn Fleishman is a look at the work, the technical skills needed to translate what a cartoonist drew on his board, into papers all over the country.
This is not a history of comic strips, more a how the sausage is made book about how sequential art, photographs and more were printed in newspapers. The book begins in the past, with a showing of a work of Chinese art that looks like a comic strip as printed on silk. From there we move forward to just before the 20th century and the story of the Yellow Kid, the first real comic strip, and one that caused a minor war between rival publishers. The book goes into how the mechanics of the strip were printed, as well as how this changed newspapers. The addition of photos, and colors and more are shown. As well as popular strip the book looks at how the printing process changed, that syndicates could be started, syndicates that could market the same strips all over the country. The book is lavishly illustrated with examples from the time, classic strips and more.
A very good study of a subject that up to know I had taken for granted. I knew there were strips in newspapers, and in collections, but not the amount of time and effort it takes to make them available. One really follows the history of newspapers, from a trusted source that was read by millions, to the sad decline that has happened to much of media, some self-inflicted, some brought on by social media and their many failed promises. The book is well-written and and clear to follow. There are some things that might need a second reading or two, but as many of us find changing the clocks difficult to do when the seasons changes, this is understandable. I book I really enjoyed and one that should be on many shelves for people who love comic strips and their rich history.
July 20, 2025
A superlative read – for those who want it – this takes us through the world of the funnies – the American newspaper comic strip, not from the stories they told or the people who wrote and drew them, so much, but from the point of view of the technology used to make them. Starting with the basics of how ink actually got on paper in repetitive manner, and the science of the coloured inks used, we catch up with Yellow Kid, the first sustained and profitable kind of licensed comic star. We see the age of the syndicated strip come about, and how different newspapers presented the exact same material thirty whole years apart, if not over longer spreads of time, helping some of the creatives involved notch up annual income akin to millions in today's money.
This is certainly stuff I've not seen in print before, and the terms involved (gamboge, flong) certainly were new to me. If I knew the name of the man (Ben Day) who produced the idea of pointillist-styled colour blending used on newsprint, I'd forgotten it. But this was by far the most technical volume I've picked up about printing, and as a result wasn't fully what I was thinking it to be. This is NOT Dave Gibbons' "How Comics Work" or a Scott McCloud run-through; it's a 'how printing happened over the last 150 years, with relation to the funnies'. But it's full of fascinating stuff – the week Doonesbury was nearly forced to go dark (or would that be white?) by Nixon's cronies, and the chances of lead-times being almost a thing of the past with the birth of digitisation.
We are now of course in a world with fewer newspaper readers, and much more online presence for this kind of material. Things have tipped over to the more creator-owned, Patreon-funded outlets, so this could only be seen as a quite timely recap of a mahoosive industry. So with the thousands of newspapers shrunk to hundreds, and the cross-town competition for the market reduced heavily with regards to each city's presses, there is a chance such a museum-styled, academic consideration of the whole shebang was called for. That's certainly what we've got here, which is indubitably a five star read for those fully aware of what's on offer.
(And ultimately, it was probably very important for Andrews McMeel to reprint this, after a Kickstarter run sold out – they're still in the syndication game so much they feature fairly heavily at one point...)
This is certainly stuff I've not seen in print before, and the terms involved (gamboge, flong) certainly were new to me. If I knew the name of the man (Ben Day) who produced the idea of pointillist-styled colour blending used on newsprint, I'd forgotten it. But this was by far the most technical volume I've picked up about printing, and as a result wasn't fully what I was thinking it to be. This is NOT Dave Gibbons' "How Comics Work" or a Scott McCloud run-through; it's a 'how printing happened over the last 150 years, with relation to the funnies'. But it's full of fascinating stuff – the week Doonesbury was nearly forced to go dark (or would that be white?) by Nixon's cronies, and the chances of lead-times being almost a thing of the past with the birth of digitisation.
We are now of course in a world with fewer newspaper readers, and much more online presence for this kind of material. Things have tipped over to the more creator-owned, Patreon-funded outlets, so this could only be seen as a quite timely recap of a mahoosive industry. So with the thousands of newspapers shrunk to hundreds, and the cross-town competition for the market reduced heavily with regards to each city's presses, there is a chance such a museum-styled, academic consideration of the whole shebang was called for. That's certainly what we've got here, which is indubitably a five star read for those fully aware of what's on offer.
(And ultimately, it was probably very important for Andrews McMeel to reprint this, after a Kickstarter run sold out – they're still in the syndication game so much they feature fairly heavily at one point...)
May 4, 2025
Note: I received a DRC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
“How Comics Are Made covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. This book combines years of research and dozens of interviews with cartoonists, historians, and production people to tell the story of how a comic starts with an artist’s hand and makes it way through transformations into print and onto a digital screen. You’ll see reproductions of art and artifacts that have never appeared in print anywhere, and some historic comics will appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. And you’ll find out about metal etching, Dragon’s Blood (a real thing), flong (also a real thing), and the massively, almost impossibly complicated path that original artwork took to get onto newsprint in the days of metal relief printing. The book is divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in
“The Early From the Yellow Kid in the 1890s to the 1910s Syndication in When it became affordable to make hundreds or thousands of copies of daily strips to send around the country (or world), from the 1910s to 1970s Newspapers’ switch from relief to flat printing and the shift to purely photographic transformations from the 1950s to the 1980s Pixel The transition from photographic to digital, from scanning to digital creation, from the 1970s to 2000s and through the present day Webcomics and Look, ma, no ink! Digital comics read online and sometimes put on press to make books Each section will feature interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.”
I grew up reading all sorts of comics, and “How Comics are Made” makes me appreciate comics even more. I love how the book displays the history of making comics in 5 separate parts. THe book brings up lots of interesting facts about how comics are made. Showcasing the evolution of comics over the years, this book is perfect for all kinds of comics fans. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you do too!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“How Comics Are Made covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. This book combines years of research and dozens of interviews with cartoonists, historians, and production people to tell the story of how a comic starts with an artist’s hand and makes it way through transformations into print and onto a digital screen. You’ll see reproductions of art and artifacts that have never appeared in print anywhere, and some historic comics will appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. And you’ll find out about metal etching, Dragon’s Blood (a real thing), flong (also a real thing), and the massively, almost impossibly complicated path that original artwork took to get onto newsprint in the days of metal relief printing. The book is divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in
“The Early From the Yellow Kid in the 1890s to the 1910s Syndication in When it became affordable to make hundreds or thousands of copies of daily strips to send around the country (or world), from the 1910s to 1970s Newspapers’ switch from relief to flat printing and the shift to purely photographic transformations from the 1950s to the 1980s Pixel The transition from photographic to digital, from scanning to digital creation, from the 1970s to 2000s and through the present day Webcomics and Look, ma, no ink! Digital comics read online and sometimes put on press to make books Each section will feature interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.”
I grew up reading all sorts of comics, and “How Comics are Made” makes me appreciate comics even more. I love how the book displays the history of making comics in 5 separate parts. THe book brings up lots of interesting facts about how comics are made. Showcasing the evolution of comics over the years, this book is perfect for all kinds of comics fans. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you do too!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 25, 2025
If you’ve ever been captivated by the Sunday funnies or marvelled at the clever punchline of a comic strip, How Comics Are Made is your backstage pass to the magic behind the panels. Glenn Fleishman offers an incredibly informative and visually captivating journey through the history and production of newspaper comics, tracing their evolution from early print days to the era of modern webcomics.
This book is more than a timeline; it’s a vibrant exploration of the evolving tools, techniques, and wizardry that brought comics from rough sketches to the printed page. Fleishman covers an impressive breadth of material with clarity and care, making the book a treasure trove for academics, students, fans, and artists alike. Packed with a multitude of images, archival artwork, photographs, and diagrams, the book is as visually appealing as it is rich in content. Fleishman’s approachable writing style presents complex production methods in layman’s terms while keeping the pages dynamic and engaging.
What makes this volume particularly special are the chapters dedicated to influential creators and critical moments in comics history. Fleishman spotlights Charles M. Schulz as the ultimate all-in-one creator and Garry Trudeau for his transformative impact on production timelines. Another standout chapter thoughtfully addresses the inclusion and portrayal of people of colour in newspaper comics, focusing on shading techniques used to depict Black characters and highlighting the work of Black creators—an important and often overlooked aspect of comics history.
This book is a must-have for any comic nerd eager to uncover lesser-known details about this beloved medium. It’s clear that Fleishman cherishes the craft deeply, and his passion shines through every page. Although I read a digital copy, I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical edition to gift to fellow comic lovers.
Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advance copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions, as always, are my own.
This book is more than a timeline; it’s a vibrant exploration of the evolving tools, techniques, and wizardry that brought comics from rough sketches to the printed page. Fleishman covers an impressive breadth of material with clarity and care, making the book a treasure trove for academics, students, fans, and artists alike. Packed with a multitude of images, archival artwork, photographs, and diagrams, the book is as visually appealing as it is rich in content. Fleishman’s approachable writing style presents complex production methods in layman’s terms while keeping the pages dynamic and engaging.
What makes this volume particularly special are the chapters dedicated to influential creators and critical moments in comics history. Fleishman spotlights Charles M. Schulz as the ultimate all-in-one creator and Garry Trudeau for his transformative impact on production timelines. Another standout chapter thoughtfully addresses the inclusion and portrayal of people of colour in newspaper comics, focusing on shading techniques used to depict Black characters and highlighting the work of Black creators—an important and often overlooked aspect of comics history.
This book is a must-have for any comic nerd eager to uncover lesser-known details about this beloved medium. It’s clear that Fleishman cherishes the craft deeply, and his passion shines through every page. Although I read a digital copy, I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical edition to gift to fellow comic lovers.
Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advance copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions, as always, are my own.
April 22, 2025
If you're interested in learning how comics are made, this is a must-read! This book is packed with information on the history and behind-the-scenes process of how comics have been created over the years. It’s like a history book for comics lovers and would be a fantastic resource for kids who are interested in comics—or even as part of a homeschool curriculum. With pictures, diagrams, and tons of detailed explanations, it's an amazing guide for anyone curious about what goes into making comics.
May 4, 2025
This book tells the story of comics, starting in the 1890s with The Yellow Kid and continuing until now. It is divided into 5 timeframes reflecting technological developments, including reproductions of the comics mentioned.
It was an interesting and informative read. The included images clarified the concepts discussed in the book, and it was fascinating to learn what comic artist themself had to say.
Thank you, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with this book to review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
It was an interesting and informative read. The included images clarified the concepts discussed in the book, and it was fascinating to learn what comic artist themself had to say.
Thank you, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with this book to review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
May 5, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's copy of this book.
As an avid comic book reader and collector, this book was a true delight to read. And I learned so much. I wouldn't call this book a history of comics as it is more a history of how comics are made. But I have read lots of histories about comics themselves so to me this was a very unique read. I highly recommend for any comic fan or any fan of knowing the history of printing.
As an avid comic book reader and collector, this book was a true delight to read. And I learned so much. I wouldn't call this book a history of comics as it is more a history of how comics are made. But I have read lots of histories about comics themselves so to me this was a very unique read. I highly recommend for any comic fan or any fan of knowing the history of printing.
August 19, 2025
Li uma cópia avançada através da NetGalley e quero muito oferecê-lo a mim própria pelo Natal. Fala-nos da história e produção das tiras de BD, traçando a sua evolução desde os primeiros tempos da impressão até à era dos webcomics. A escrita é acessível e a estrutura dinâmica: está dividido em cinco capítulos, que correspondem a cinco períodos de produção, e inclui entrevistas a artistas e reproduções de arte original de banda desenhada, artefactos de impressão e coloração.
July 13, 2025
This was a fascinating book on the process of creating and printing comics.
I picked it up thinking it would be more focused on the art and artists creating comics, but it was more the technical processes and history of their printing.
I picked it up thinking it would be more focused on the art and artists creating comics, but it was more the technical processes and history of their printing.
January 18, 2026
A granular love letter to newspaper comics. It should come with 400-level course credit!!
July 12, 2025
I wasn’t sure I’d be quite the right kind of nerd for this book, and in a way I was right—but it was, nevertheless, fascinating to read about the history of comics (in the US). This is also, as the book explains, the history of the development of newspaper printing and all of the changes over the last century (again, in the US).
Fleishman provides a great deal of detail, organising it into chronological phases, from the early days of hand-drawn comics, through mid-century photographic reproduction, to today’s digitally produced ones, and the rise of webcomics. There are also tons of images—this is very much a visual history—and that makes the book wonderfully immersive. It would be terribly dry otherwise, as that aforementioned detail is almost at the level of academic treatise. I did, however, get to learn such fun terms as “flong” (a mould made of paper and paste that offered advantages over flat layouts for printing using cylinders), and all about Ben Day artists.
So, who is this book for? As proposed in the publisher’s blurb, it’s for those interested in the history of comic-making, specifically for newspapers. Also, as mentioned, for those who want to learn about the evolution of the newspaper printing industry. In addition, parts of this book were fascinating to me for I’m also, among other things, an amateur printmaker. If any of that sounds like it’s up your street, then definitely get a copy.
Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for early DRC access.
Fleishman provides a great deal of detail, organising it into chronological phases, from the early days of hand-drawn comics, through mid-century photographic reproduction, to today’s digitally produced ones, and the rise of webcomics. There are also tons of images—this is very much a visual history—and that makes the book wonderfully immersive. It would be terribly dry otherwise, as that aforementioned detail is almost at the level of academic treatise. I did, however, get to learn such fun terms as “flong” (a mould made of paper and paste that offered advantages over flat layouts for printing using cylinders), and all about Ben Day artists.
So, who is this book for? As proposed in the publisher’s blurb, it’s for those interested in the history of comic-making, specifically for newspapers. Also, as mentioned, for those who want to learn about the evolution of the newspaper printing industry. In addition, parts of this book were fascinating to me for I’m also, among other things, an amateur printmaker. If any of that sounds like it’s up your street, then definitely get a copy.
Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for early DRC access.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews