Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.31 (798 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0801874505 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 360 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-04-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
For the paperback edition, Wright has written a new postscript that details industry developments in the late 1990s and the response of comic artists to the tragedy of 9/11. Fredric Wertham (whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, a salacious exposé of the medium's violence and sexual content, led to U.S. As American as jazz or rock and roll, comic books have been central in the nation's popular culture since Superman's 1938 debut in Action Comics #1. Senate hearings) to link juvenile delinquency to comic books and impose censorship on the industry; and the changing economics of comic book publishing over the course of th
D. Cloyce Smith said Thorough survey of the business and culture of comic books. In jargon-free, exuberant prose, Bradford Wright has written what may well be the definitive history of comic books. As Wright notes in his introduction, however, since his investigation is also a survey of mass adolescent culture, he properly focuses on "popular" commercial magazines--especially on superhero-themed comics--to the exclusion of newspaper funnies (like Dick Tracy and Li'l Abner), underground comi. Too Much That is Not Discussed A. Clark There is simply too much that is not discussed for this to be a truly effective book, including most of DC and Marvel's non-superhero output, so that their war, western, and romance comics are neglected and the horror boom of the 1970s is largely ignored. The many superhero comics of the 60s that were published by companies other than DC and Marvel are also overlooked. Harvey and Gold Key are barely mentioned a. Finally--The Definitive History of Comic Books Paul Rybinski Bradford Wright has gone where no historian has gone before, delving deeply into an area largely ignored by "legitimate" scholars of history. Not content to simply present a chronology of events, Wright takes the time to analyze each trend in the industry from a socio-historical perspective. The result is a fascinating analysis of an industry that has been shaped by--and (arguably) shaped--the cultural trends o
Wright explores how the politics of the writers and artists, usually liberals and often Jewish, were reflected in their work, while at the same time they had to conform to frequently more conservative cultural standards that often led to a backlash against the genre. Carefully placing comics in their broader social contexts and weighing seriously their critics' charges, Wright creates an intelligent study not only of comics but of shifting attitudes toward popular culture, children, violence, patriotism and America itself. Comic books, perhaps the central staple of U.S. youth culture, have been fundamental in both shaping and reflecting the country's political, social, ethical and even sexual mores ever since Superman made his first appearance on the cover of Action Comics in 1938. By the late 1940s, comics were at the center of a full-fledged cultural war; claims that they corrupted youth and caused crime and juvenile delinquency, resulted in congressional hearings and laws th