Product Description

This colorful sequel to the 1998 "Pop Culture Book of the Year," Comic Book Culture, is a visual journey through the most incredible graphic covers of the golden age of comic books. Lavishly illustrated, this volume features the most popular and collectible comic-book covers ever published, including famous figures like Superman, Batman, and Captain America.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1519475 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 206 pages

From Library Journal
Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History is a misleading title for this visual celebration of comics' Golden Age (mid-1930s through the 1940s) as it is neither an overview of comic book history nor a study of its culture. In the introduction, Goulart states that this is "basically a picture book," and as such, it is tons of fun. More than 400 covers feature an overwhelming array of both still-beloved and long-forgotten heroes, as well as luridly drawn, often racist villains, gorgeous damsels in distress, and even, occasionally, a jungle queen. The art is often striking and the colors brilliant, much of it by legends in the field that include Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Alex Schomburg, and Bill Everett. Goulart, the author of over 160 books, including 50 sf and 20 mystery novels, has written more comprehensively on comic book history with The Encyclopedia of American Comics (LJ 1/91). Likewise, The World Encyclopedia of Comics (LJ 11/1/98) does a better job detailing comics' evolution. However, Goulart more than meets his goal here, offering intriguing details of a rich period that, sadly, comic books will never enjoy again.DChris Ryan, New Milford, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
With some 400 well-chosen examples, this lavish volume details the mid-1930s to late 1940s golden age of the comic book by showcasing the flamboyant covers that captured the era's newsstand browsers' attention. The comic book debuted early in the century and at first reprinted newspaper strips. The shift to original content accelerated with the 1938 debut of Superman, which touched off a craze for the costumed heroes who have dominated comics to this day. The book's gallery features still-familiar figures like Batman and such now obscure ones as Dynamic Man and Captain Future. Other chapters focus on genres--funny comics, for instance, and "good girl art"--and on master cartoonists. Using the comics' covers to evoke the era, rather than reprinting the stories, proves effective, since their posterlike design and bold drawing often outshone the comparatively crude artwork within. Goulart's knowledgeable text complements the covers, and the volume in toto works as both a coffee-table showcase and a history of a publishing phenomenon. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Alan Caruba, Bookviews, June 2000
"This book, like the others this company publishes, is an instant collector's item."