Download or read book A Complete History of American Comic Books written by Shirrel Rhoades and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2008 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an updated history of the American comic book by an industry insider. You'll follow the development of comics from the first appearance of the comic book format in the Platinum Age of the 1930s to the creation of the superhero genre in the Golden Age, to the current period, where comics flourish as graphic novels and blockbuster movies. Along the way you will meet the hustlers, hucksters, hacks, and visionaries who made the American comic book what it is today. It's an exciting journey, filled with mutants, changelings, atomized scientists, gamma-ray accidents, and supernaturally empowered heroes and villains who challenge the imagination and spark the secret identities lurking within us.
Download or read book Was Superman a Spy written by Brian Cronin and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-04-28 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinating and often bizarre true stories behind more than 130 urban legends about comic book culture. Was Superman a Spy? demystifies all of the interesting stories, unbelievable anecdotes, wacky rumors, and persistent myths that have piled up like priceless back issues in the seventy-plus years of the comic book industry, including: • Elvis Presley's trademark hairstyle was based on a comic book character (True) • Stan Lee featured a gay character in one of Marvel's 1960s war comics (False) • Wolverine of the X-Men was originally meant to be an actual wolverine! (True) • What would have been DC's first black superhero was changed at the last moment to a white hero (True) • A Dutch inventor was blocked from getting a patent on a process because it had been used previously in a Donald Duck comic book (True) With many more legends resolved, Was Superman a Spy? is a must-have for the legions of comic book fans and all seekers of “truth, justice, and the American way.”
Download or read book Pulp Empire written by Paul S. Hirsch and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2024-06-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Popular Culture Association's Ray and Pat Browne Award for Best Book in Popular or American Culture In the 1940s and ’50s, comic books were some of the most popular—and most unfiltered—entertainment in the United States. Publishers sold hundreds of millions of copies a year of violent, racist, and luridly sexual comics to Americans of all ages until a 1954 Senate investigation led to a censorship code that nearly destroyed the industry. But this was far from the first time the US government actively involved itself with comics—it was simply the most dramatic manifestation of a long, strange relationship between high-level policy makers and a medium that even artists and writers often dismissed as a creative sewer. In Pulp Empire, Paul S. Hirsch uncovers the gripping untold story of how the US government both attacked and appropriated comic books to help wage World War II and the Cold War, promote official—and clandestine—foreign policy and deflect global critiques of American racism. As Hirsch details, during World War II—and the concurrent golden age of comic books—government agencies worked directly with comic book publishers to stoke hatred for the Axis powers while simultaneously attempting to dispel racial tensions at home. Later, as the Cold War defense industry ballooned—and as comic book sales reached historic heights—the government again turned to the medium, this time trying to win hearts and minds in the decolonizing world through cartoon propaganda. Hirsch’s groundbreaking research weaves together a wealth of previously classified material, including secret wartime records, official legislative documents, and caches of personal papers. His book explores the uneasy contradiction of how comics were both vital expressions of American freedom and unsettling glimpses into the national id—scourged and repressed on the one hand and deployed as official propaganda on the other. Pulp Empire is a riveting illumination of underexplored chapters in the histories of comic books, foreign policy, and race.
Download or read book America s Best Comics written by Alan Moore and published by . This book was released on 2004-04-23 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As one of the most influential writers in comics history, Alan Moore has penned such important and acclaimed titles as 2003's biggest selling graphic novel, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, part of Moore's own America's Best Comics imprint.
Download or read book Grease Monkey written by Tim Eldred and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-02-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mac Gimbensky is an eight hundred pound intelligent gorilla and expert fighter mechanic on the flagship Fist of Earth, where, with the help of his cadet assistant Robin Plotnik, he maintains the ships of the all-female Barbarian Squadron.
Download or read book The Complete Guide to Self Publishing Comics written by Comfort Love and published by Watson-Guptill. This book was released on 2015-05-19 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take Control of Your Comics-Making Destiny Creating your own comic is easier than ever before. With advances in technology, the increased connectivity of social media, and the ever-increasing popularity of the comics medium, successful DIY comics publishing is within your reach. With The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics, creators/instructors Comfort Love and Adam Withers provide a step-by-step breakdown of the comics-making process, perfect for any aspiring comics creator. This unprecedented, in-depth coverage gives you expert analysis on each step—writing, drawing, coloring, lettering, publishing, and marketing. Along the way, luminaries in the fields of comics, manga, and webcomics—like Mark Waid, Adam Warren, Scott Kurtz, and Jill Thompson—lend a hand, providing “Pro Tips” on essential topics for achieving your comics-making dreams. With the insights and expertise contained within these pages, you’ll have everything you need and no excuses left: It’s time to make your comics!
Download or read book Of Comics and Men written by Jean-Paul Gabilliet and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 595 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in France and long sought in English translation, Jean-Paul Gabilliet's Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books documents the rise and development of the American comic book industry from the 1930s to the present. The book intertwines aesthetic issues and critical biographies with the concerns of production, distribution, and audience reception, making it one of the few interdisciplinary studies of the art form. A thorough introduction by translators and comics scholars Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen brings the book up to date with explorations of the latest innovations, particularly the graphic novel. The book is organized into three sections: a concise history of the evolution of the comic book form in America; an overview of the distribution and consumption of American comic books, detailing specific controversies such as the creation of the Comics Code in the mid-1950s; and the problematic legitimization of the form that has occurred recently within the academy and in popular discourse. Viewing comic books from a variety of theoretical lenses, Gabilliet shows how seemingly disparate issues—creation, production, and reception—are in fact connected in ways that are not necessarily true of other art forms. Analyzing examples from a variety of genres, this book provides a thorough landmark overview of American comic books that sheds new light on this versatile art form.
Download or read book The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics written by Dennis O'Neil and published by Watson-Guptill. This book was released on 2013-07-09 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For any writer who wants to become an expert comic-book storyteller, The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics is the definitive, one-stop resource! In this valuable guide, Dennis O’Neil, a living legend in the comics industry, reveals his insider tricks and no-fail techniques for comic storytelling. Readers will discover the various methods of writing scripts (full script vs. plot first), as well as procedures for developing a story structure, building subplots, creating well-rounded characters, and much more. O’Neil also explains the many diverse formats for comic books, including graphic novels, maxi-series, mega-series, and adaptation. Of course, there are also dozens of guidelines for writing proposals to editors that command attention and get results.
Download or read book Together written by Lydia M. Millard and published by . This book was released on 1865 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Marvel Studios Story written by Charlie Wetzel and published by HarperCollins Leadership. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What can you learn from the world’s most successful companies? The Marvel Studios Story will help you understand and adopt the competitive strategies, workplace culture, and daily business practices that enabled a struggling comic book publisher to parlay the power of myth and storytelling to become one of history’s most successful movie studios. Marvel characters have been shaping pop culture for decades and when comic books were no longer keeping the company afloat, Marvel Studios was born. Marvel Studios is the multibillion-dollar home to iconic franchises. They are known for creating brilliant multilayered worlds and storylines that allow their audiences to escape into a fantasy and inspire the creative side of every viewer. But, behind those visionaries is a well-oiled storytelling machine dedicated to getting the Hulk’s smash fists in the hands of every child and a sea of Spiderman costumes deployed every Halloween. This book educates readers on how one of the largest creative companies in the planetary universe runs their business and keeps their fans and their parent company, Disney, counting the profits. Through the story of Marvel Studios, you’ll learn: How to recognize and pursue additional revenue streams. How a company can successfully balance the creative with business to appease investors and fans alike. And how to keep a decades-old superhero franchise new and exciting without losing sight of its roots.
Download or read book Comic Books Incorporated written by Shawna Kidman and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comic Books Incorporated tells the story of the US comic book business, reframing the history of the medium through an industrial and transmedial lens. Comic books wielded their influence from the margins and in-between spaces of the entertainment business for half a century before moving to the center of mainstream film and television production. This extraordinary history begins at the medium’s origin in the 1930s, when comics were a reviled, disorganized, and lowbrow mass medium, and surveys critical moments along the way—market crashes, corporate takeovers, upheavals in distribution, and financial transformations. Shawna Kidman concludes this revisionist history in the early 2000s, when Hollywood had fully incorporated comic book properties and strategies into its business models and transformed the medium into the heavily exploited, exceedingly corporate, and yet highly esteemed niche art form we know so well today.
Download or read book Invaders from the North written by John Bell and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2006-11-11 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Short-listed for the 2007 CBA Libris Awards for Book Design of the Year What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before. Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canadas pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canadas verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.
Download or read book The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing written by Gamal Hennessy and published by Nightlife Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you want to build a business publishing comics? Do you want a chance to create and own the next generation of iconic characters? Do you want to understand how the comic book industry really works? If you’re a comic creator who is building a business for your work, then you need to read this book. Written by a comic book attorney with twenty years in the business, edited by a senior editor for DC, Marvel, and AfterShock Comics, and enjoyed by hundreds of comic book professionals, The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing offers the reader the chance to develop a unique business plan, guiding them from initial inspiration to being a professional publisher.
Download or read book Hero Gets Girl written by Mark Voger and published by Two Morrows Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hero Gets Girl! is the story of Kurt Schaffenberger, preeminent Lois Lane artist and important early Captain Marvel artist who also brought a welcome touch of humor and whimsy to superhero comics. This profusely illustrated biography features hundreds of photos and drawings, many never before published. Schaffenberger is recalled by family, friends and fellow pros such as Alex Ross, Will Eisner, Carmine Infantino, Julius Schwartz, Joe Kubert, Murphy Anderson and others. With a foreword by Ken Bald, 'Hero Gets Girl!' is an intimate human portrait and a must-read for any superhero fan."--Cover.
Download or read book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die written by Paul Gravett and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2011-10-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visually amazing, this critical history of comic books, manga, and graphic novels is a must-have for any comic buff or collector. Over the centuries, comic books and their offshoots, such as graphic novels, manga, and bandes dessinées, have evolved into a phenomenally popular, influential, and unique art form with which we can express our opinions, our fantasies, our nightmares, and our dreams. In short: comics are emphatically no longer just for kids. This diverse, constantly evolving medium is truly coming into its own in the 21st century, from Hollywood's blockbuster adaptations of super-powered caped crusaders to the global spread of Japan's manga and its spinoffs, and from award-winning graphic novels such as Maus and Persepolis to new forms such as online webcomix. This volume is the perfect introduction to a dynamic and globally popular medium, embracing every graphic genre worldwide to assess the very best works of sequential art, graphic literature, comics, and comic strips, past and present. An international survey, this engaging volume is organized according to the year of first publication in the country of origin. An opening section acknowledges pioneering pre-1900 masterpieces, followed by sections divided by decade, creating a fascinating year-by-year chronicle of the graphic medium worldwide. The material includes the very earliest one-off albums to the latest in online comics and features some series and characters that have run for decades. Packed with fantastic reproductions of classic front covers and groundbreaking panels, this book is visually stunning as well as a trove of information--perfect for the passionate collector and casual fan alike.
Download or read book Fight Girls written by Frank Cho and published by Upshot. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten hard-as-nails women face off in an ancient contest of champions where the winner truly takes all: the title of “Queen of the Galaxy.” To win the challenge each contestant must survive the hazards of the planet’s harsh landscape, the ferocious predators on and below its surface, and their fellow contestants. This edition of the contest has a twist: one of the contestants is an infiltrator who has her eye on something bigger than the prize. Who is she and what does she really want?
Download or read book The Art of the Batman written by James Field and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The official behind-the-scenes companion book to Matt Reeves' The Batman The Art of The Batman is the official behind-the-scenes illustrated tie-in book to the highly-anticipated Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes) film, coming to theaters March 4, 2022. Set during Batman's second year as a crime fighter, this unique, noir-inspired take on the Dark Knight serves as a return to the character's roots and stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, and Colin Farrell as The Penguin. Readers will get an insider's look at the film's production process through character designs, vehicle and gadget designs, and background paintings, alongside original commentary and interviews from the filmmakers, cast, production designer, and conceptual artists.
