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Rock Toons : A Cartoon History of the First 30 Years of Rock 'n' Roll
8 1/4" x 11 1/4" approx. size - with 103 very colorful cartoon pages. Starts with 1954 Doris Day, Sinatra, Dean Martin then to Fats Domino, Chuch Berry and onto Folk Rock, Country Rock, Disco and onto the Elvis and The Beatles, Michael Jackson & everyone in between. The First 30 Years of Rock n' Roll - The Music That Changed the world!
103 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 10, 2020
While this is a fun book, I think it tries to tackle too much history in too little space. The result is more superficial than enlightening. Even worse, it was published in 1986. Although it covers the “First 30 Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” it's been, as of this writing, thirty-four *more* years since then. What I’m saying is, you’d need to really have a love for comics and/or rock history to be reading this in 2020. In fact, I’d say you’d have to be truly crazy, someone so desperate for something to read after the libraries and bookstores have been closed for months, that you’d resort to digging through your dusty shelves looking for books you bought years ago--in the 80's, say--that you haven't read in years and certainly haven't rated on Goodreads yet. Fortunately my wife married just such a person …
Anyway, as I said: fun. I like the narrative device of having a team of anthropomorphic cats researching the book for their publisher. It does a decent job of covering rock history up through the mid 80's. The chronology jumps around a bit, understandably so, as multiple threads weave in and out. For instance, there's a two page spread about the Beatles that mentions, “John [Lennon] is influenced by Bob Dylan.” But this comes before Dylan is really even mentioned, though they do later backtrack to talk about the Folk movement and get to Seeger and Baez and Dylan and all. The book is full of moments like this. You almost have to know some of the history already.
The truth about rock history is that there really aren't any clear boundaries between genres and time periods and so on. The more you try to focus on a division between, say, punk and disco, the more fuzzy and indistinct it becomes. Things sort of gradually shift from one to the other. Rather than a single graphic novel, this almost would have been better as a series. With more space to play with, they could have taken the time to devote proper space to everyone, and there always would be the option to go back and focus on someone who wasn't properly covered in a previous volume--perhaps a new book or box set of their work has come out forcing a reassessment of their historical importance. Happens all the time.
In the end, a decent book, but it could have been much better, and is sadly out of date in some ways. Worth checking out if you run across a copy though.
Anyway, as I said: fun. I like the narrative device of having a team of anthropomorphic cats researching the book for their publisher. It does a decent job of covering rock history up through the mid 80's. The chronology jumps around a bit, understandably so, as multiple threads weave in and out. For instance, there's a two page spread about the Beatles that mentions, “John [Lennon] is influenced by Bob Dylan.” But this comes before Dylan is really even mentioned, though they do later backtrack to talk about the Folk movement and get to Seeger and Baez and Dylan and all. The book is full of moments like this. You almost have to know some of the history already.
The truth about rock history is that there really aren't any clear boundaries between genres and time periods and so on. The more you try to focus on a division between, say, punk and disco, the more fuzzy and indistinct it becomes. Things sort of gradually shift from one to the other. Rather than a single graphic novel, this almost would have been better as a series. With more space to play with, they could have taken the time to devote proper space to everyone, and there always would be the option to go back and focus on someone who wasn't properly covered in a previous volume--perhaps a new book or box set of their work has come out forcing a reassessment of their historical importance. Happens all the time.
In the end, a decent book, but it could have been much better, and is sadly out of date in some ways. Worth checking out if you run across a copy though.
October 25, 2013
I first read this when I was 13. It's very enjoyable and well-drawn, gives you a great perspective on the early days of rock but has a lot of blind spots: British folk is ignored, prog is given short shrift as is post-punk and hard rock and metal are only looked at in terms of late 70s arena-friendly excess. The writers tend to favour softer forms of rock and are clearly big fans of soul, funk, doo-wop and motown while not really liking the more abrasive side of rock music after the 1960s. No Iggy, for crying out loud! But still a very entertaining book with the animal characters (4 cats and a bird) giving their perspectives on the various artists and trends and the fun interplay between them. The two-page spread which is packed with visual references to Beatles songs is stunning.
November 13, 2019
First 30 years of Rock 'n' Roll in cartoon format ...very funny and ends with apocalypse.
September 11, 2020
Очень сумбурно, и не очень качественный русский перевод
April 14, 2016
Tämä teos olikin melko tuore tapaus, kun yläasteikäisenä tämän ensimmäisen kerran lainasin kirjastosta ja luin. Sen verran mieleenpainuva se oli, että uusintaluku oli miellyttävä nostalgiatrippi. Idea ja toteutus ovat ihan ok, aikanaan tämä oli tietysti edelläkävijä sarjakuvamuotoisten tietokirjojen genressä. Myöhemmin tulleet "kilpailijat" ovat ehkä hieman laskeneet tämän viehkoutta.
Toteutuksessa on käytetty melkoisesti luovuutta, mutta ei voi mitään, että hetkittäin teos taantuu vain luettelemaan bändejä ja biisejä/albumeita. Ja ainahan voidaan kiistellä, mikä yhtye ja artisti on musiikkihistoriassa niin merkittävä, että se ansaitsisi isomman osuuden tällaisessa teoksessa. Lopussa toki tekijätkin sen myöntävät, tavallaan. Minulle tämä rokin historian esitys on ihan ok.
Toteutuksessa on käytetty melkoisesti luovuutta, mutta ei voi mitään, että hetkittäin teos taantuu vain luettelemaan bändejä ja biisejä/albumeita. Ja ainahan voidaan kiistellä, mikä yhtye ja artisti on musiikkihistoriassa niin merkittävä, että se ansaitsisi isomman osuuden tällaisessa teoksessa. Lopussa toki tekijätkin sen myöntävät, tavallaan. Minulle tämä rokin historian esitys on ihan ok.
July 4, 2012
у меня удивительно как попавшая в родной город версия этого комикса на венгерском - они продавались в СССР, было и постсоветское издание
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews