Download or read book The Spirits of America written by Eric Burns and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The spirits of America, Burns relates that drinking was "the first national pastime," and shows how it shaped American politics and culture from the earliest colonial days. He details the transformation of alcohol from virtue to vice and back again and how it was thought of as both scourge and medicine. He tells us how "the great American thirst" developed over the centuries, and how reform movements and laws sprang up to combat it. Burns brings back to life such vivid characters as Carrie Nation and other crusaders against drink. He informs us that, in the final analysis, Prohibition, the culmination of the reformers' quest, had as much to do with politics and economics and geography as it did with spirituous beverage.
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 Spirit s Destiny written by Dorphise Jean and published by . This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirit's Destiny is a coming of age story about Destiny, a young Haitian woman who is coming to terms with her newfound abilities and the pressure of deciding how to use them.
Download or read book India s Immortal Comic Books written by Karline McLain and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-04 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining entertainment and education, India's most beloved comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha, or "Immortal Picture Stories," is also an important cultural institution that has helped define, for several generations of readers, what it means to be Hindu and Indian. Karline McLain worked in the ACK production offices and had many conversations with Anant Pai, founder and publisher, and with artists, writers, and readers about why the comics are so popular and what messages they convey. In this intriguing study, she explores the making of the comic books and the kinds of editorial and ideological choices that go into their production.
Download or read book An Essay on Comedy and the Uses of the Comic Spirit written by George Meredith and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-08-28 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Download or read book Masters of American Comics written by John Carlin and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the work of America's most popular and influential comic artists, and includes critical essays accompanying each artist's drawings.
Download or read book The Best of The Spirit written by Will Eisner and published by Titan Books (UK). This book was released on 2008-11-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1940, legendary creator WIll Eisner (A Contract With God) began an amazing new newspaper comic strip, The Spirit, which changed the face of comics forever. Clad in his famous blue suit and fedora, crimefighter Denny Colt brought his own brand of hardened justice to the corrupt streets of Central City! This huge collection of twenty-two timeless stories from 1940-1950 period features famous first appearances, classic confrontations, human interest tales, and all those magnificent splash pages! Soon to be a major motion picture from celebrated writer and creator Frank Miller (Sin City), this volume also features an introduction by New York Times best-selling novelist Neil Gaiman (The Sandman).
Download or read book Will Eisner s the Spirit the Corpse Makers written by Francesco Francavilla and published by Dynamite Entertainment. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of unexpected disappearances and deaths hit Central City. Initially, these cases seem purely unrelated; no apparent connection between the victims makes it easy for the police to just file them as runaways or natural deaths. But when someone close to Ebony White disappears, The Spirit is on the case! The iconic masked crimefighter created by legendary comic book creator Will Eisner returns in an all-new tale by Francesco Francavilla... Eisner Award winner, master of crime noir, and worthy successor to The Spirit's legacy! Reviews: "Visually stunning and with a genuinely intriguing hook... Another thrilling addition to the storied history of this iconic character." - Big Comic Page "It's everything you love about The Spirit perfectly intact from a fresh, yet loyal perspective." - All-Comic "A delight to read, and the art blows my mind." - Major Spoilers "From an artistic point of view, you aren't going to find a more gorgeous book on the stands and the story excels in its job of enticing readers." - Capeless Crusader
Download or read book The American Dramatist written by Montrose Jonas Moses and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book Large Print 16pt written by Gord Hill and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book is a powerful and historically accurate graphic portrayal of Indigenous resistance to the European colonization of the Americas, beginning with the Spanish invasion under Christopher Columbus and ending with the Six Nations land reclamation in Ontario in 2006. Gord Hill spent two years unearthing images and researching historical information to create The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, which presents the story of Aboriginal resistance in a far-reaching format. Other events depicted include the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico; the Inca insurgency in Peru from the 1500s to the 1780s; Pontiac and the 1763 Rebellion and Royal Proclamation; Geronimo and the 1860s Seminole Wars; Crazy Horse and the 1877 War on the Plains; the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s; 1973's Wounded Knee; the Mohawk Oka Crisis in Quebec in 1990; and the 1995 Aazhoodena/Stoney Point resistance. With strong, plain language and evocative illustrations, The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book documents the fighting spirit and ongoing resistance of Indigenous peoples through 500 years of genocide, massacres, torture, rape, displacement, and assimilation; a necessary antidote to the conventional history of the Americas.
Download or read book Captain America Masculinity and Violence written by J. Richard Stevens and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1940, Captain America has battled his enemies in the name of American values, and as those values have changed over time, so has Captain America’s character. Because the comic book world fosters a close fan–creator dialogue, creators must consider their ever-changing readership. Comic book artists must carefully balance storyline continuity with cultural relevance. Captain America’s seventy-year existence spans from World War II through the Cold War to the American War on Terror; beginning as a soldier unopposed to offensive attacks against foreign threats, he later becomes known as a defender whose only weapon is his iconic shield. In this way, Captain America reflects America’s need to renegotiate its social contract and reinvent its national myths and cultural identity, all the while telling stories proclaiming an eternal and unchanging spirit of America. In Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence, Stevens reveals how the comic book hero has evolved to maintain relevance to America’s fluctuating ideas of masculinity, patriotism, and violence. Stevens outlines the history of Captain America’s adventures and places the unfolding storyline in dialogue with the comic book industry as well as America’s varying political culture. Stevens shows that Captain America represents the ultimate American story: permanent enough to survive for nearly seventy years with a history fluid enough to be constantly reinterpreted to meet the needs of an ever-changing culture.
Download or read book The Ten Cent Plague written by David Hajdu and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-02-03 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years between the end of World War II and the mid-1950s, the popular culture of today was invented in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. But no sooner had comics emerged than they were beaten down by mass bonfires, congressional hearings, and a McCarthyish panic over their unmonitored and uncensored content. Esteemed critic David Hajdu vividly evokes the rise, fall, and rise again of comics in this engrossing history. "Marvelous . . . a staggeringly well-reported account of the men and women who created the comic book, and the backlash of the 1950s that nearly destroyed it....Hajdu’s important book dramatizes an early, long-forgotten skirmish in the culture wars that, half a century later, continues to roil."--Jennifer Reese,Entertainment Weekly(Grade: A-) "Incisive and entertaining . . . This book tells an amazing story, with thrills and chills more extreme than the workings of a comic book’s imagination."--Janet Maslin,The New York Times "A well-written, detailed book . . . Hajdu’s research is impressive."--Bob Minzesheimer,USA Today "Crammed with interviews and original research, Hajdu’s book is a sprawling cultural history of comic books."--Matthew Price,Newsday "To those who think rock 'n' roll created the postwar generation gap, David Hajdu says: Think again. Every page ofThe Ten-Cent Plagueevinces [Hajdu’s] zest for the 'aesthetic lawlessness' of comic books and his sympathetic respect for the people who made them. Comic books have grown up, but Hajdu’s affectionate portrait of their rowdy adolescence will make readers hope they never lose their impudent edge."--Wendy Smith, Chicago Tribune "A vivid and engaging book."--Louis Menand,The New Yorker "David Hajdu, who perfectly detailed the Dylan-era Greenwhich Village scene in Positively 4th Street, does the same for the birth and near death (McCarthyism!) of comic books inThe Ten-Cent Plague." --GQ "Sharp . . . lively . . . entertaining and erudite . . . David Hajdu offers captivating insights into America’s early bluestocking-versus-blue-collar culture wars, and the later tensions between wary parents and the first generation of kids with buying power to mold mass entertainment."--R. C. Baker,The Village Voice "Hajdu doggedly documents a long national saga of comic creators testing the limits of content while facing down an ever-changing bonfire brigade. That brigade was made up, at varying times, of politicians, lawmen, preachers, medical minds, and academics. Sometimes, their regulatory bids recalled the Hays Code; at others, it was a bottled-up version of McCarthyism. Most of all, the hysteria over comics foreshadowed the looming rock 'n' roll era."--Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times "A compelling story of the pride, prejudice, and paranoia that marred the reception of mass entertainment in the first half of the century."--Michael Saler,The Times Literary Supplement(London) David Hajdu is the author ofLush Life: A Biography of Billy StrayhornandPositively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña.
Download or read book A Very Serious Thing written by Nancy A. Walker and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defines why women have been blocked from participating in the mainstream of American comedy yet have overcome hurdles to produce a humor that is sustaining and spells survival for women in society.
Download or read book The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling written by Aubrey Sitterson and published by Ten Speed Graphic. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the host of the critically acclaimed pro wrestling podcast Straight Shoot, this graphic novel history of wrestling features the key grapplers, matches, and promotions that shaped this beloved sport and form of entertainment. As a pop culture phenomenon, professional wrestling--with its heroic babyfaces and villainous heels performing suplexes and powerbombs in pursuit of championship gold--has conquered audiences in the United States and around the world. Now, writer/podcaster Aubrey Sitterson and illustrator Chris Moreno form a graphic novel tag team to present wrestling's complete illustrated history. Featuring legendary wrestlers like Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock, and modern-day favorites like John Cena, Kenny Omega, and Sasha Banks, the book covers wrestling's progress from the carnival days of the Gold Dust Trio to the dominance of the WWF/WWE to today's diverse independent wrestling scene, and it spotlights wrestling's reach into Mexico/Puerto Rico (lucha libre), the U.K. (all-in), and Japan (puroresu).
Download or read book The Victorian Comic Spirit written by Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2000: "Comedy" and "humour" are not words most associate with the Victorian period, yet their culture was rife with laughter and irony. The 12 essays in this volume reanimate this "comic spirit" by exploring the humour in its social context. While previous studies of humour in the period focus on the age's own ongoing interest in the old distinction in comic theory between wit and humour, this volume aims to show how inadequate this distinction is in accounting for the many types of Victorian comic representation. The essays turn from linguistic or psychological analyses of humour towards the social production of humour and the cultural dynamics which underlie it.
Download or read book A Companion to the American Novel written by Alfred Bendixen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-11-17 with total page 708 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring 37 essays by distinguished literary scholars, A Companion to the American Novel provides a comprehensive single-volume treatment of the development of the novel in the United States from the late 18th century to the present day. Represents the most comprehensive single-volume introduction to this popular literary form currently available Features 37 contributions from a wide range of distinguished literary scholars Includes essays on topics and genres, historical overviews, and key individual works, including The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Beloved, and many more.
Download or read book The Church of the Comic Spirit written by Paul Wiebe and published by . This book was released on 2008-07-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One evening Father Alazon Lecher appears on a popular talk show to announce that he has received a series of revelations. Several God-sent angels, he says, instructed him to find and translate a set of twelve scrolls, then choose four disciples to help him interpret these scriptures-the Bear Lake Scrolls-and establish the Church of the Comic Spirit. The Scrolls, the original versions of some famous Bible stories, form the centerpiece of this novel. Each of the twelve tales has a distinct plot, style, and characters, who are cast in the roles of rogues, buffoons, fools, and schlemiels. God is often the central character, though his role and traits change from story to story. The teachings of the church are set forth in a brief catechism consisting of answers to FAQs, e.g.: Whether God exists or whether someone has been posing as God? Whether irreverence is the highest virtue? Whether laughter is the way to salvation?
