A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics [Hardcover]

J. Michael Barrier (Editor), Martin T Williams (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (May 17, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874742285
• ISBN-13: 978-0874742282
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #537,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book collecting rare reprints, June 6, 2002

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics (Hardcover)

This book is nothing more or less than a series of reprints of what the author deems "important" comics. Each comic story faithfully reprinted, with the page emulating newsprint. (The entire comic is not reproduced, only the highlighted strip.) There is a little one or two page introduction giving a little history about each comic.

What makes this book such a standout, is that the author's taste is singular, and not limited by a single company or genre. Characters from several different companies happily exist side-by-side in this excellent hardcover. The author has a confessed predisposition for "funny" comics, and these take up a large percentage of the book.

This predisposition allows for several comics to be reprinted that are not normally available. There are numerous reprints of Action Comics #1 (The first Superman comic) and Detective Comics #27 (The first Bat-man Comic) but how many other collections include All-American Comics #20 with the first appearence of Ma Hunkle, the original Red Tornado?

A list of comics included: Action Comics #1 (First appearance of Superman); Detective Comics #29 (Origin of Bat-man); All-American Comics #20-#14 (First appearance of the Red Tornado, and other Red Tornado stories); Police Comics #1 and #13 (First appearance of Plastic Man, and Woozy Winks); Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (Captain Marvel Battles the Plot Against the Universe); Sub-Mariner #4 (Dr. Dimwit by Basil Wolverton); Tessie the Typist #8 (Powerhouse Pepper by Basil Wolverton); Jingle Jangle Comics #5, 24#, (The Pie-faced Prince by George Carlson); Little Lulu Four Color 74 and Little Lulu #38, #40, #80; Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #1 (Donald Duck Christmas story by Carl Barks); Animal Comics #1, Pogo Possum #3, #8 (Pogo the Possum and Gang by Walt Kelly); The Spirit supplements August 10, 1941, September 5, 1948, September 11, 1949 (Great Spirit stories by Will Eisner); The EC Collection (Frontline Combat No. #4, Two-Fisted Tales #25, Mad #4 (Superduperman vs. Captain Marbles), Mad # 18, Impact #1)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book collecting rare reprints., May 28, 2002

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics (Hardcover)

This book is nothing more or less than a series of reprints of what the author deems "important" comics. Each comic story faithfully reprinted, with the page emulating newsprint. (The entire comic is not reproduced, only the highlighted strip.) There is a little one or two page introduction giving a little history about each comic.

What makes this book such a standout, is that the author's taste is singular, and not limited by a single company or genre. Characters from several different companies happily exist side-by-side in this excellent hardcover. The author has a confessed predisposition for "funny" comics, and these take up a large percentage of the book.

This predisposition allows for several comics to be reprinted that are not normally available. There are numerous reprints of Action Comics #1 (The first Superman comic) and Detective Comics #27 (The first Bat-man Comic) but how many other collections include All-American Comics #20 with the first appearence of Ma Hunkle, the original Red Tornado?

A list of comics included: Action Comics #1 (First appearance of Superman); Detective Comics #29 (Origin of Bat-man); All-American Comics #20-#14 (First appearance of the Red Tornado, and other Red Tornado stories); Police Comics #1 and #13 (First appearance of Plastic Man, and Woozy Winks); Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (Captain Marvel Battles the Plot Against the Universe); Sub-Mariner #4 (Dr. Dimwit by Basil Wolverton); Tessie the Typist #8 (Powerhouse Pepper by Basil Wolverton); Jingle Jangle Comics #5, 24#, (The Pie-faced Prince by George Carlson); Little Lulu Four Color 74 and Little Lulu #38, #40, #80; Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #1 (Donald Duck Christmas story by Carl Barks); Animal Comics #1, Pogo Possum #3, #8 (Pogo the Possum and Gang by Walt Kelly); The Spirit supplements August 10, 1941, September 5, 1948, September 11, 1949 (Great Spirit stories by Will Eisner); The EC Collection (Frontline Combat No. #4, Two-Fisted Tales #25, Mad #4 (Superduperman vs. Captain Marbles), Mad # 18, Impact #1)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and educational, December 23, 2006

By 

krebsman (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics (Hardcover)

A SMITHSONIAN BOOK OF COMIC BOOK COMICS is a delightful book, emphasizing the vitality and creativity of the form. After a brief introduction giving a short history of the American comic book, the book is organized into a dozen sections composed of a short essay followed by representative stories. The first section is about the creation of Superman and includes the very first appearance of Superman. Superman inspired a host of "superheroes," including Batman and Captain Marvel, who each get a section. The book also covers the comic books aimed at young children (The Pie-Faced Prince"), war stories, comics for adult readers ("Master Race") and satirical ("Mad"). The part I enjoyed most was the section titled "Little Lulu and John Stanley." Lulu was my favorite comic as a child. I found those comics hilarious and even as a kid I appreciated the witty language. I had been giving all the credit to "Marge." As it turns out, Marge Buell created Lulu in 1935. A man named John Stanley inherited the job of writing Lulu comics in the late 1940s and was creating them when I was a child in the mid-50s. I think John Stanley was a genius. There are four Little Lulu stories included. "The Little Rich Boy" is especially impressive. The satirical Mad Comics is very well represented by the Superman parody "Superduper Man" and "Howdy Dooit," a rather scathing spoof of children's TV. This is a very entertaining book that I think offers much to think about regarding American popular culture. Four stars.