Inside The World Of Comic Books

by Jeffery Klaehn (Editor)

Inside the World of Comic Books includes essays on historical and contemporary trends associated with comic books and features a range of original interviews undertaken by Jeffery Klaehn with high profile comic industry professionals. From visionary writers and artists, to award-winning editors and publishers, interviewees Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Joe Casey, Matt Fraction, Bob Layton, Steve Niles, Joe Quesada, Eric Searleman, Chris Warner, Scott Allie, Norm Breyfogle, and Garth Ennis.

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Daniel Etherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent collection for anyone with an interest in comics - specifically mainstream American comics. While some of the interviews are of note, I preferred the essays, about such subjects as EC Comics (home of Tales from the Crypt and Mad) and how the Comics Code killed both much of their output and arguably resulted in the lack of genre diversity in US comics; Mark Millar's troubled but innovative run on The Authority; and the best of the DC Canon. Solid stuff from a variety of writers alongside editor Jeffery Klaehn.

The book is a bit old now - it's copyright 2007. If there was ever a new edition or a sequel, it'd be nice to have a few female voice. Sure, US comics (like Hollywood) remains male-dominated, but there are still plenty of significant figures historically and today: Jeanette Kahn, Karen Berger, Ann Nocenti, Jill Thompson Lauren Beukes, G Willow Wilson, Nicola Scott etc etc.